14 
M4T4 




Class _-El4= — 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD 



GUIDE BOOK TO ITS LOCALITIES 



GREEN HARBOR 



BY MARCIA A. THOMAS. 



" Green are their bays, and greener still 

Shall round their spreading- fame be wreathed; 
And regions now untrod shall thrill 

With reverence, when their names are breathed." 

W. C. Bryant. 




BOSTON: 

PRINTED BY DUTTON AND WENTWORTH, 

No. 37, Congress Street. 

18 54. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the Year 1854, 

By Marcia A. Thomas, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



THIS 
MEMORIAL OF THEIR ANCESTRY 

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 

TO THE 

DESCENDANTS OF THE EARLY SETTLERS 



QUEEN HARBOR, 



COMPILER 



P HE FACE. 



The following Memorials do not claim to be a systematic His- 
tory of Marshfield, but are mere sketches of some of its localities 
and early families. They are prepared for the united purpose of 
perpetuating their memories and preserving their names in the 
hallowed place of their sepulchres. Though the information pre- 
sented has been collected with much care and labor, and with an 
antiquarian taste, yet the compiler appears in print with much dif- 
fidence, it being her first effort of the kind, and her time for its 
compilation limited, amid o f her cares, to a few weeks. She begs 
her friends and the public will look with favorable indulgence 
upon her little offering. The materials from which she has 
drawn, are ample for a larger volume, and she has found it no 
easy task to select and abridge, to make a work, which it seemed 
to her the occasion demanded. Errors may have occurred in the 
selection and arrangement, but she trusts the credit may yet be 
awarded her of a sincere desire to do the right thing from right 
motives. 

To those authors from whom she has made selections, and to 
those who have generously aided her by their labors or otherwise, 
she feels under great obligations. Her best thanks are hereby 
offered to Mrs. Sigourney of Hartford, and Miss Caulkins of New 
London, Conn., for their beautiful poetical contributions to her 
work ; and for the gratuitous use of plates, to Messrs. Little, 
Brown & Co., and James W. Paige, Esq., for that of the Webster 
Mansion ; to Mr. Samuel G. Drake, for that of Josiah Winslow ; 
and to Mr. William S. Russell of Plymouth, for that of the 
Peregrine White apple tree ; and to Messrs. C. S. Francis & Co., 
of New York, for that of the ancient Winslow House. 

Marshfield, August 1, 1854. 



CONTENTS. 



Burying Hill and Surrounding Localities, . Page 8 

Family Sketches, ....... 13 

Pastors of the First Church, 13 ; Winslow, 17 ; White, 
31 ; Adams, 36 ; Vassall, 37 ; Bourn, 38 ; Waterman, 40 ; 
Snow, 41 ; Beadle or Biddle, 42 ; Branch, 42 ; Winter 
and Hewet, 43 ; Goram, Gorum, [Gorham,] 44 ; Rouse, 
46 ; Bompasse, Bumpus, Bump, 48 ; Pitney, 48 ; Lyn- 
dall, Lindall, 49 ; Holmes, 50 ; Dingley, 52 ; Carver, 52 ; 
Thomas, 53 ; Sampson, 71 ; Somers, 71 ; Foord, Ford, 
73 ; Baker, 74 ; Williamson, 75 ; Howland, 75 ; Foster, 
76 ; Walker, 77 ; Low, 77 ; Chillingsworth or Chilling- 
worth, 77 ; Sprague, 78 ; Hall, 80 ; Stevens, 81 ; Dogget, 
Doggett, 81 ; Keene, Kein, Keen, 82 ; Shearman, Sher- 
man, 83 ; Phillips, 83 ; Shettle, Shirtley, Shurtleff, 84 ; 
Little, 85 ; John Jones, 87 ; Chapman, 87 ; Webster, 88. 

Peregrine White, — A Poem, by L. H. Sigourney, . . 34 

The Marshfield Graves, — A Poem, by F. M. Caulkins, 89 

Burying Hill, — Inscriptions and Memorials of Interments, 92 



BURYING HILL 



SURROUNDING LOCALITIES 



'•'Forget not all their sufferings, 

Their sorrows and their prayers ; 
This hard won heritage is ours, 
The perils all were theirs." 

The Ancient Burying Hill, successively of Green 
Harbor, Rexham and Marshfield, is situated in sol- 
emn seclusion, in the southeasterly part of this 
Pilgrim settled township. There is no record pre- 
served of the time when it was set apart as a place 
of sepulture. The oldest memorial stone, now fallen 
into fragments, is that of William Thomas, Esq., 
within the limits of whose grant this cemetery was 
located. 

One half a mile southerly, environed with a variety 
of rural beauties, rises the mansion house of the la- 
mented statesman, the late Hon. Daniel Webster, be- 
yond which is a ridge of broken highlands, on the 
summit of which our fathers lit their beacon fires, 
"in case of alarm from the Indian enemy." Through 
an intervening valley a glimpse is caught of the blue 
waters of the bay where the ev6r< memorable May- 
flower cast its anchor, and on a solitary rock, still sa- 
cred to their name, landed its pilgrim passengers, the 
germ of this great republic. 
1* 



8 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

From the southwest, Green Harbor River winds 
its serpentine way through an intervale of meadow 
land, and passing this hallowed hill near its northern 
base, one mile easterly therefrom, mingles its waters 
with the mighty ocean. 

Over this river, with a background formed of the 
unfading green of the native forests, the eye falls on 
an extensive range of farms which the founders of 
our "rustic" homes reclaimed from a mazy and 
savage-trod wilderness. Reflecting on their sacrifi- 
ces and sufferings we are led to say with the poet 

" We have no title-deed to house or lands ; 
Owners and occupants of earlier date 
From graves forgotten stretch their dusty hands, 
And hold in mortmain still their old estates." 

H. W. Longfellow. 

In the semicircle before named the eye embraces in 
the distance the ancestral lands of Clement King, 
Richard French, James Pitney, Samuel Baker, John 
Adams, William Ford, Philip Leonard, Wm. Haile, 
Luke LUJy, Timothy Williamson, Roger Cook, Wm. 
Hollo way, John Russell, John Walker, Arthur How- 
land, Thomas Chillingworth, Edmund Hawes, Dan- 
iel Cole, William Sherman and Peregrine White. 
Within these, and nearer this consecrated spot, are 
the ancient estates of James Lindall, William Holmes, 
Robert Carver, John Dingley, Rev. Edward Bulkley, 
John Somers, Anthony Snow, Thomas Bourn, Ken- 
elm Winslow, Josias Winslow, Robert Waterman and 
Joseph Beadle. From the last named estate, situated 
at the northeast point of the cultivated lands within 



BURYING HILL. 9 

the bounds of vision, extends Marshfield Beach on 
the east to the mouth of Green Harbor River. 

Near the southeast extremity of this beach are 
two tracts of upland, early called " Governors and 
Branch's Islands." The last was the abode of John 
Branch, while on the first resided Mr. John Bradford, 
eldest son of Gov. William Bradford, previous to his 
removal to Norwich, Conn., between 1660-64 of 
which place he was one of the thirty-five pur- 
chasers. 

Crossing Green Harbor River, from the southern 
banks thereof extends the estate granted to Gov. 
Edward Winslow, styled the founder of Marshfield. 
Narrowing the vision to the vicinage around this 
last resting place of our fathers, we view the ancient 
estate of William Thomas, Esq. Mingled on its 
surface in a pleasing variety are hills, valleys, wood- 
lands, meadows and streams, now rich with the 
charms of the experimental cultivation of the late 
" Marshfield Farmer." 

Between these old domains of Edward Winslow 
and William Thomas nestled the homestead of John 
Thomas, while the homes of Edward Bumpus, one 
of the forefathers, and that of John Rouse, dotted 
the valleys interspersed amid the southern hills. 

Passing northerly, by the lawns of Careswell, we 
again find the fields swelling into steeplands, on the 
summit of which stands a flagstaff given by the 
Hon. Abbott Lawrence, of Boston. From this, on 
festal occasions, float the stars and stripes of the 



10 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

American Union. Near a hill of this range, yet 
bearing his name, was the early colonial residence 
of Capt. John Gorham, who sacrificed his life in 
defence of the forest homes of our fathers. 

Separated by a dale, from the westerly side of the 
Gorham range rises another acclivity, called Cherry 
Hill, memorable from the fact that Mr. Webster 
addressed from thence, for the last time, a public 
assemblage, on July 24th, 1852. He had been 
escorted from the railroad station at Kingston, by a 
committee of arrangements and other citizens of the 
neighborhood in carriages, with a cavalcade of young 
men, most of them doubtless of Pilgrim descent. 
Mr. Webster and the Hon. Seth Sprague of Dux- 
bury, were seated in a barouche, drawn by six grey 
horses, driven by Jacob Sprague, "Esq." His ad- 
dress on that occasion tells in his own language of 
his associations with the people of Green Harbor 
and vicinity, from which we offer the following 
extracts : — 

" Friends and neighbors, it is now about twenty years that I 
have been in the midst of you, passing- here on the side of. the sea, 
in your vicinity and presence, that portion of every year which I 
have been able to enjoy from the labors of my profession and the 
cares of public life. Happy have they been to me and mine, for, 
during all that period, I know not of one unkind thing done, or 
an unkind word spoken to me, or those that are near and dear to 
me. Gentlemen I consider this a personal kindness, a tribute of 
individual regard. I have lived among you with the greatest 
pleasure and satisfaction. I deem it a great piece of good fortune 
that, coming from the mountains, desirous of having a summer 
residence on the sea coast, I came where I did and when I did. 



BURYING HILL. 11 

Many, when they come down through these pine woods and over 
these sandy hills to see us, wonder what drew Mr. Webster to 
Marshfield. Why gentlemen, I tell them it was partly good sense, 
but more good fortune. I had got a pleasant spot, I had lands about 
me diversified, my fortune was to fall into a kind neighborhood 
among men with whom I never had any difficulty, with whom I had 
entered into a sort of a well understood covenant, that I would 
talk with them on farming and fishing and of neighborhood con- 
cerns, but I would never speak a word to them or they to me, on 
law or politics. They have kept their side of the bargain and I 
have kept mine. 

Friends and neighbors, the time in which you offer me this 
welcome is not inappropriate. I am not much longer to be 
away from you for any purpose connected with public life or 
public duty. The place which I now occupy in the councils of 
the nation must of course ere long be vacated by me, and may 
be vacated very shortly. 

There is an end to all human labors and all human efforts. I am 
no longer a young man. I am thankful that I have a good degree 
of health and strength, and hope to enjoy your neighborhood and 
kindness and the pleasure of seeing you often, for some years to 
come, if such may be the pleasure of the Almighty. 

Accept gentlemen; from the depth of my affection for you all, 
my warm acknowledgments that you come here with countenances 
so open and frank to give me this assurance of your regard ; I 
return it with all my heart, I say again, my prayers are that the 
Almighty Power above may preserve you and yours, and every- 
thing that is near and dear to you, in prosperity and happiness." 

Returning from, we trust, not an unwelcome 
digression, we will now pass beyond the wooded 
highlands which bound our vision on the north and 
west. There spread the broad acres of the "North 
River men," so called, from their settling on the 
southern borders of that river, which is the division 
line between Marshfield and Scituate. We find the 



12 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

following names among these settlers, for the first 
half a century after the incorporation of the town- 
ship, some leaving and others filling their places 
during that period, viz. : Barker, Besbeech, Brooks, 
Byram, Bangs, Bosworth, Beare, Brown, Bruff, Bar- 
den, Cushing, Eames, Hincksman. Latham, Mendall, 
Macall, Joice, Perry, Rogers, Sylvester and Taylor. 

Lying between Green Harbor and North Rivers 
were many miles of" dense forest land, and although 
the respective settlers in each locality assembled to- 
gether in meetings for public business, and perhaps 
also, some of them for public worship, they do not 
appear to have been in habits of intimate association. 

Within this section many carried their children to 
the second church in Scituate for baptism, which 
was near, on the opposite side of North River, over 
which was then a ferry place. 

As we wend our way downward with this river 
to the sea, the distance from Green Harbor is less- 
ened ; this locality is now called East Marshfield. 
Here dwelt William Macomber, Morris Truant, 
Thomas Little, Francis Crooker, Richard Childs, 
John Sawyer, Edward Stevens, John Jones, Ralph 
Chapman, William Norcutt, Jeremiah Boroughs, 
Thomas Howell, Thomas Tilden, John Phillips, 
William ShurtlerT, John Strowbridge, and Mr. Ralph 
Powell. 

On the present westerly bounds of the township 
is a tract of fertile land, two miles in length and 
one in breadth, called the Two Miles. This was 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 13 

granted to Scituate 1640. and in 1788 annexed to 
Marshfield. It was settled by Richard Sylvester, 
Robert Sproat, Thomas Rose, and the descendants 
of Walter, son of Elder William Hatch of Scituate ; 
Elder Hatch was from Kent County, England. He, 
with his family, were passengers in the good ship 
Hercules, 1635. Walter m. Elizabeth Holbrook of 
Weymouth, 1650, and had Hannah, b. 1651; Sam- 
uel, b. 1653 ; Jane, b. 1655 ; Antipes, b. 1658 ; and 
Bethiah, 1661. Many descendants, bearing the fam- 
ily name, are residents of the Two Miles. Luther 
Hatch, Esq., long the respected Town Clerk of 
Marshfield, is a descendant of Elder William Hatch 
and his son Walter. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 

" It is wise for us to recur to the history of our ancestors. Those who do 
not look upon themselves as a link connecting the Past with the Future, do 
not perform their duty to the world. 7 ' Daniel Webster. 

PASTORS OF THE FIRST CHURCH. 

It is inferred from olden records, with the fact of 
his being an early resident at Green Harbor, that 
Nehemiah Smyth was, perhaps, the first religious 
teacher of its early settlers. It is believed also, that 
Governor Edward Winslow might have occasionally 
officiated in that office. There was, however, no 
regular pastor until the Rev. Richard Blinman, a 
2 



14 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

Welch gentleman, removed thither, about 1642. He 
was accompanied by Mr. Thomas and a number of 
other " emigrants, from beyond the Wye." 

Dissensions taking place, Mr. Blinman and most 
of his countrymen soon removed to Gloucester, and 
from thence, 1648-50, to New London. In 1658 
he is at New Haven, from whence he returned by 
the way of Newfoundland, to Bristol, England, 
where he deceased, at an advanced age. 

Soon after the removal of Mr. Blinman from 
Marshfield, the Rev. Edward Bulkely, son of the 
Rev. Peter Bulkely of Concord, was ordained pastor. 
He appears to have held an estate independent of 
the " minister's land," so called. His dwelling- 
house stood not far from the site of the south dis- 
trict schoolhouse. His father dying, 1659, he suc- 
ceeded him as pastor of the church at Concord. His 
children were, John, who deceased at Marshfield, 
1655; " Jane, who m. Ephraim Flint, and Elizabeth, 
who m. the Rev. Joseph Emerson." 

" Tradition represents Mr. Bulkely as a man of 
a feeble constitution ; he died while on a visit at 
Chelmsford, 1696, and was buried at Concord. He 
was greatly respected for his talents, acquirements, 
irreproachable character, and piety." — Shattuck's 
History of Concord. 

Mr. Bulkely was succeeded in the pastoral office, 
by the Rev. Samuel Arnold of Yarmouth, in 1657. 
He deceased, 3 Sept., 1693, after a ministry of 39 
years. His wife was Elizabeth ; they had Samuel, 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 15 

born at Yarmouth, 1649; he, with a number of 
others, from Marshfield and Duxbury, were original 
proprietors of Rochester, Mass., over which people 
he was ordained pastor, 1684. They had also Seth, 
from whom the present families of the name, resi- 
dent on the borders of Duxbury, descended ; and 
Elizabeth, the wife of Abraham Holmes. 

Edward Tompson, son of Deacon and grandson 
of the Rev. William Tompson of Braintree, was 
ordained fourth pastor of the Marshfield church, 14 
Oct., 1696. He preached the sermon at his own 
ordination, from Isai. c. ix, 10. He had, after 1690, 
been teacher of the church at Newbury, and also a 
teacher of youth. He suddenly deceased, 16 March, 
1704-^5, aged 40. The following is extracted from a 
tribute to his character signed by the clergymen of 
his Association : — 

" No minister could wish to leave behind him a more excellent 
character than is testified of Mr. Tompson, by those who knew 
him best. In conversation being holy, humble, meek, patient, 
sober, temperate, blameless, diligent, useful, and going about 
doing good ; so living desired, and dying lamented." 

The wife of Mr. Tompson was Sarah. Their 
children, born at Newbury, were Samuel, 1690, H. 
C. 1710, ordained at Gloucester, 1716, d. 1724; 
Edward, b. 1695, and perhaps others. They had at 
Marshfield, William, b. 1697; John, b. 1699; and 
Joseph, b. 1703-4. 

It is believed that Mr. Tompson's family returned 
to Newbury. The following marriages are from the 



16 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

records of that place, and probably were the chil- 
dren of Edward Tornpson, as we learn from the his- 
torian of that town that no other family of that 
name were residents thereof till after the time of 
their occurrence. 

" Isaac Thomas of Marshfield and Ann Tornpson 
of Newbury, m. 25 Oct., 1711. 

Percival Clark and Sarah Tornpson, jun., m. 26 
March, 1713. 

Stephen Longfellow and Abigail Tornpson, m. 25 
March, 1714. 

Richard Pettingell, jun., and Elizabeth Tornpson, 
m. 2 Aug., 1716. 

Joseph Tornpson and Prise ilia Noyes, m. 7 Nov.. 
1727." 

Mr. Tornpson was succeeded in the ministry at 
Marshfield, by the Rev. James Gardner, a native of 
Scotland, who, it is inferred, was a merchant in 
Marshfield, previously. He was ordained, 14 May, 
1707, and deceased, 14 Sept., 1739. His wife was 
Mary. Their children were, Jane, b. 1708; Mary, b. 
1710-11, m. Rev. Benjamin Bass of Hanover, 1729; 
Thomas, b. 1713; Elizabeth, b. 1715-16, m. Nathaniel 
Thomas; Deborah, b. 1719, m. Michael Samson of 
Kingston, 1739; Dorothy, b. 1721-22; James, b. 
1724; and Lucy, b. 1729, deceased in the summer 
of 1739. 

The succeeding pastors of the first church, were, 
Samuel Hill, Maiden, II. C. 1735, from 1740 to 
1752; Joseph Green, Barnstable, H. C. 1746, from 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 17 

1753 to 1759; Thomas Brown, H. C. 1752, from 
1759 to 1763; William Shaw, D. D., Bridgewater, 
H. C. 1762, from 1766 to 1816 ; Martin Parris, 
Pembroke, B. U., from 1817 to 1838; Seneca White, 
Sutton, D. C. 1818, from 1838 to 1850; Ebenezer 
Alden, Randolph, A. C. 1839, installed 1850— the 
present pastor. He is descended from the Pilgrim 
John Alden ; his wife is Maria Louisa, dau. of Chris- 
topher Dyer, Esq., of Abington, and a descendant of 
the May Flower Pilgrims, William and Susanna 
White, through their son Peregrine White and his 
eldest dau. Sarah, wife of Thomas Young, &c, &c. 



WINSLOW. 

Mr. Edward Winslow was eldest son of Edward 
Winslow, Esq., and his wife Magdelen, of Droit- 
witch, Worcestershire, England. He joined the Pil- 
grims at Leyden, with his wife Elizabeth, who 
deceased, 24 March, 1621. On the 24th of the fol- 
lowing May he was united in marriage to Susanna, 
widow of Mr. William White ; Mrs. Winslow thus 
became the first bride, having previously been the 
first mother, among the first colonists of New Eng- 
land. 

Mr. Winslow was the third signer of the celebrated 
compact subscribed in the cabin of the May Flower, 
11 Nov., 1620. "An instrument establishing a prin- 
ciple which is the foundation of all the democratic 
institutions of America." 
2* 



18 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

He removed to his estate at Green Harbor, 
1636-37. On this he had erected a handsome resi- 
dence, which, with the whole domain, was called 
Careswell, after a seat of his ancestors in England. 
He had occasionally sojourned at Green Harbor, 
after 1632. Gov. Winslow was a man of extensive 
usefulness in the colony, being agent for the same 
at the court of England, in 1623, 1624, 1635, 1644, 
and 1646. On his return, in 1624, he brought over 
the broad Atlantic the first neat cattle that grazed 
about the New England homes of our Pilgrim sires. 
On his last named embassy to his native land, in 
1646, being in high estimation at the court of the 
Protector, he was invited to enter his service, and 
was appointed First Commissioner of the Common- 
wealth, to superintend the expedition sent to the 
Spanish West Indies. 

On this service, by more than ordinary fatigue, 
the fever of the climate was induced, of which he 
deceased, on shipboard, 8 May, 1655, aged 59 years 
6 months and 18 days. His remains were consigned 
to the deep waters of the ocean, with the honors of 
war. His widow Susanna, it appears from the frag- 
ment of an entry in the town records, survived him 
until October, 1680. 

The whole early history of our country bears am- 
ple testimony to the excellence of the character of 
Gov. Winslow. His children, Edward and John, 
named at the "division of cattle, 1627," deceased, 
doubtless, in early life. His son Josiah was born 





uJfv 4A) ) Tnxiji 



i-X22&^> 



,:...: . . 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 19 

1629, and subsequently he had a dau. named Eliza- 
beth, m. firstly, to Gilbert or Robert Brooks, and 
secondly, 1669, to Capt. George Corwin of Salem. 
George and Elizabeth Corwin had Penelope, b. 
1670, m. Josiah Walcott, 1676 ; and Susanna, b. 
1682, m. to Edward Lynde and Benjamin Wads- 
worth. 

Josiah, son of Gov. Edward and Susanna (White) 
Winslow, m. 1651, Penelope Pelham, dau. of Her- 
bert Pelham, Esq., who was of Massachusetts Col- 
ony, from 1645 to 1650. Their children were, Eliz- 
abeth, b. 1664, m. Stephen Burton, 1684; Edward, 
b. 1667, died early ; and Isaac, b. 1670. 

Josiah Winslow, son of Gov. Edward Winslow, 
was the first native-born Governor of the Old Col- 
ony, to which office he was elected annually from 
1673 to his decease. This included the calamitous 
period of Philip's war. In a letter, written by him, 
under date 1 May, 1676, he says, " I think I can 
clearly say, that before these present troubles broke 
out, the English did not possess one foot of land in 
this colony but what was fairly obtained by honest 
purchase of the Indian proprietors. We first made a 
law that none should purchase, or receive by gift, 
any land of the Indians, without the knowledge of 
our court ; and lest they should be straitened, we 
ordered that Mount Hope, Pocasset, and several 
other necks of the best land in the colony, because 
most suitable and convenient for them, should never 
be bought out of their hands." 



20 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

In this war with King Philip, Gov. Winslow was 
eminently serviceable. He commanded the English 
army in the great swamp fight, 1676. His health, 
habitually feeble, was much impaired by the fatigues 
of this expedition ; and he was afterwards excused 
from again going forth to war. In a letter written 
by him to Gov. Leveret, July 26, 1675, he thus ex- 
presses himself : 

"My person has been much threatened; I have 
twenty men about my house ; have sent away my 
wife and children to Salem ; have flankered my 
house, and resolve to maintain it so long as a man 
will stand by me." This house was built by his 
father, Gov. Edward Winslow, to which additions 
had been made. It stood a little easterly from the 
present mansion, erected about 1700 by Isaac Wins- 
low, Esq. Two depressions in the surface of the 
earth, distinctly visible, denote the exact location of 
the cellars of this fortified and celebrated residence. 
At an angle in the fence near by stood the sentry- 
house, or watch-tower, and a short distance, south- 
erly, is Long Tom Pond, which derived its name 
from the circumstance of an Indian spy, bearing that 
name, being shot, hid in an evergreen tree, which 
grew on its borders. 

Here was the Indian Chief Alexander, son of the 
kind-hearted Massasoit, attacked by the fever which 
terminated his earthly existence. He had been con- 
ducted from Manponset Pond, by Maj. Winslow, 
Maj. Bradford, and others, to Mr. Collier's, at Dux- 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 21 

bury, for the purpose of treating on mutual colonial 
difficulties. " The few magistrates who were at 
hand, issued the matter peaceably, and dismissed 
Alexander" on his way to his own forests. In two 
or three days he came to Careswell, intending to 
travel by the bay homeward. It is supposed the 
wound his sensitive spirit had received induced the 
physical disease abovenamed. The medical aid of 
Dr. Fuller was called in, to which was added the 
tenderest nursing, but he longed to be at his moun- 
tain-home, and was conveyed by water to Maj. 
Bradford's, thence on the shoulders of his men to 
Tetiquit River, and thence in canoes to Mount 
Hope, where, in a few days, he passed to the Great 
Spirit land. 

This is the substance of Maj. Bradford's statement 
to the Rev. Mr. Cotton of Plymouth, respecting the 
sickness and death of Alexander, and is, doubtless, 
more authentic than the account thereof by Dr. I. 
Mather of Massachusetts Colony. Would that we 
could erase on the pages of the Old Colony's history, 
the fact that his innocent nephew, son of Philip, and 
grandson of Massasoit, the true friend of our exiled 
fathers, was sold by their ungrateful successors into 
slavery. 

" Wo ! for the red man's wail 

Sweeps o'.cr New England's hills 3 
It rides her haughty ocean gale, 

And tones her forest rills 5 
One jarring echo in those grand old strains 
That ne'er can die along her hallowed plains." 

Mrs. Cass. 



22 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

Gov. Josiah Winslow reached every elevation, at- 
tainable, both civil and military, in his native col- 
ony, and in history he stands preeminent for the 
tolerance of his spirit, the mildness and courtesy of 
his manners, and the hospitality of his home. " He 
deceased at Careswell, 18 Dec, 1680, and was bur- 
ied on the 23d, at the colony's expense, in testi- 
mony of its endeared love and affection for him." 
His widow, Penelope Pelham, survived him 23 years, 
having deceased, 7 Dec, 1703. In person she was 
strikingly beautiful. A portrait of her, taken in 
early life, is in preservation. 

Isaac Winslow, Esq., was the only son who ar- 
rived at manhood, of Gov. Josiah Winslow. He m. 
Sarah, d. of John and Elizabeth (Paddy) Wensley 
of Boston, 11 July, 1700. She was a descendant of 
Gov. Prince, his d. Rebecca, who m. Edmund Free- 
man, being her great-grandmother. 

Their children were Josiah, b. 1701, H. C. 1721. 
He was killed by the Indians, in the memorable 
battle at St. George's River, Maine, 1 May, 1724. 
The preceding day opened with a beautiful morning 
and Capt. Winslow, commander of the fort, with 16 
men in two whale boats proceeded down to the 
Green Islands in Penobscot Bay, a place of resort of 
the Indians for fishing and fowling. They did not 
on that day however, meet with any of these sons 
of the forests. " On the following, while ascending 
the river, they fell into a fatal ambush of these red 
men cowering under its banks. They permitted 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 23 

Winslow to pass and fired into the other boat com- 
manded by Harvey, which was nearer the shore. 
Harvey fell. Winslow observing the exposure of his 
companions, though out of danger himself, hastened 
back to their assistance. In an instant he was 
surrounded by thirty canoes, filled with threefold 
that number of armed savages. They made a deter- 
mined and gallant defence, and when nearly all his 
comrades had fallen, extremely exhausted and with 
a fractured thigh, his shattered bark was set to the 
shore; waylaid here, he fought a savage hand to hand, 
then resting on his knee shot one ere they could finish 
their death work on him. Thus fell, in the morning 
of his life, this son of Green Harbor, the intrepid 
Winslow, and all his brave companions except three 
friendly Indians who were permitted to live to tell 
the sad tale. Isaac and Sarah Winslow had also, 
John, b. 1702, m. Mary Little ; Penelope, b. 1704, 
m. James Warren, 1724; Elizabeth, b. 1707, m. 
Benjamin Marston of Salem, 1729 ; Anna, b. 1709, 
died at Boston, 1723; Edward, b. 1714, m. Mrs. 
Hannah Dyer and resided at Plymouth ; he being a 
loyalist removed to Halifax, N. S., early in the 
American Revolution, where he died, 1784, aged 72. 
His posterity have enjoyed high official distinctions 
in that Province. 

The Hon. Isaac Winslow, like his ancestors, was a 
distinguished military character, Justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas and Judge of Probate. He de- 
ceased, at the seat erected by himself, December, 
1738. "He was much given to hospitality and 



24 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

universally beloved." His widow, Mrs. Sarah Wins- 
low, d. 1753, aged 80. 

John, his eldest surviving son, succeeded to the 
Careswell estate; he m. Mary, dau. of Capt. Isaac 
Little, of Pembroke, 1725. In military affairs, at 
least, he followed in the footsteps of his fathers. 
He was Colonel in the expedition to Nova Scotia, 
1755, and Commander in Chief at Fort William 
Henry, on Lake Erie, 1756. His children were, 
Pelham, b. 1737, m. Joanna White, — he was in the 
royal interest, at the commencement of the revolu- 
tionary struggle and resorted to the British for pro- 
tection, — he died on Long Island, 1776 ; Isaac b. 
1739, m. Elizabeth, dau. of the elder Dr. Stockbridge 
of Scituate, 176S, and secondly, Fanny Gay of 
Hingham, — he was a distinguished physician in his 
native town, where he deceased 1819, aged 80, and 
was the last of the name who permanently resided 
at the Careswell mansion, — his grandson, Isaac Wins- 
low of Boston, is the only adult male descendant 
of the name, of this branch of the Winslow family 
in New England. Gen. Winslow deceased at Hing- 
ham, where he m. secondly, a widow Johnson, 
1774; entombed at Marshfield. 

As the name of Col. John Winslow is associated 
with the removal of the Acadians from Nova Scotia, 
and as enquires are often made respecting this lam- 
entable outrage on an innocent people, we subjoin, 
for the information of such, a few extracts respecting 
the same, from standard historical works : — 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 25 

" Nova Scotia, under the name of Acadia," was originally set- 
tled by the French. In 1713 it was ceded to Great Biitain, when 
many of the French inhabitants removed to Canada. Those who 
chose to remain were permitted to retain their possessions 
and allowed " Freedom to worship God" according to their own 
religious belief, upon taking an oath of allegiance to the King of 
Great Britian, with an understanding that they were not to be 
requested to bear arms against the French or Indians. This 
acquired them the name of French neutrals. After the com- 
mencement of the settlement of Halifax, 1749, the Governor 
required them to take the oath of allegiance again, witnout any 
of the previous qualifications. This they objected to, as contrary 
to the conditions upon which their fathers agreed to settle under 
the British Government, saying, should they undertake to aid in 
suppressing the Indians the savages would pursue them with unre- 
lenting hostility, and that to bear arms against their courtry was 
repugnant to the feelings of human nature. They therefore 
requested to know if they might have permission to sell their 
lands and effects. They were told in reply, " That by the treaty 
of Utrecht, one year was allowed them for disposing of their 
property, which period having elapsed they could neiiher part 
with their effects nor leave the province." As a preparatory 
measure they were disarmed, their records, title-deeds and other 
papers taken from them, and after the Massachusetts troops under 
Col. Winslow had taken Beau Segour, &c, the provincial gov- 
verment secretly resolved to remove the whole body of the 
neutrals from the country. 

The reasons offered in justification of this cruel and unjust 
measure, were, that the Acadians had refused to take the oath of 
allegiance without the qualification above named, and that they 
had furnished the French and Indians intelligence, quarters, &c. 
The execution of this resolution was confided to Col. Winslow. 
He issued a proclamation requiring the French inhabitants in the 
various settlements to appear at several specified places on the same 
day. One portion was to assemble in the Church, at Grand Pre, 
Sept. 5th, 1755, at 3 P. M. In accordance with this summons, 
four hundred and eighteen able bodied men entered the church at 
3 



26 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

the appointed time and the doors were shut. The colonel then 
addressed them : — " That the duty he was then upon was very 
disagreeable to his make and temper, as he knew it must be griev- 
ous to them, &c. It was not however for him to animadvert, but 
to obey his orders," and he proceeded to inform them that " their 
lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds and live stock of all 
sorts, were forfeited to the crown, with all their other effects saving 
their money and household goods and that they were to be re- 
moved fiom the province." 

The whole number who were entrapped in this way at 
Grand Pre, and other places, with those who were hunted and 
taken from their hiding places in the depths of the forests, were 
7,000. The sufferings of these unfortunate and injured people 
in the circumstances of their removal, in their passage to this 
country, and in their separate and scattered condition here, 
cannot well be conceived. From the enjoyment of a competency, 
and in many instances affluence, in the beautiful prairies which 
they had diked out from the sea and made fruitful and luxuriant 
fields, they were at once reduced to abject poverty, and obliged 
to depend in their dispersion in a strange land on public charity. 
All suffered, but not alike. The case of one Rene Le Blanc was 
peculiar. He had been a notary public in Nova Scotia. While 
in the service of the government, he was taken by the Indians, 
carried to a French fort and there held in captivity four years. 
In a petition of the neutrals sent to Pennsylvania, to the King, 
it was said of him : — " Father Le Blanc was seized, confined and 
brought away among the rest of the people, and his family, consist- 
ing of 20 children and about 150 grandchildren, were scattered 
in the different colonies. He was put on shore at New York, 
with only his wife and two youngest children, in an infirm state of 
health; from whence he joined three more of his children at 
Philadelphia, where he died without any more notice being taken 
of him than any of us, notwithstanding his many years' labor and 
deep sufferings in your majesty's service." The removal of the 
Acadians, in the way it was effected, is considered an act of great 
cruelty and injustice. It was the infliction of a terrible punish- 
ment on a whole community, most of whom were innocent, for 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 27 

the misconduct of a part. Well has it been said, that the reasons 
of state upon which it was sought to be justified, "were never 
more cheaply urged nor more odiously triumphant." Col. Wins- 
low, in a letter to the Governor of Nova Scotia, dated Grand Pre, 
Aug. 30, 1755, says, "As to poor father Le Blanc, I shall, with 
your Excellency's permission, send him to my own place." What 
prevented his coming to Green Harbor does not appear. The 
family who filled the place intended for him bore the name of 
Mitchell. To this family, Gen. Winslow and his descendants 
were ever uniformly kind ; we well recollect the last living mem- 
bers of this family and the pensive gentility of their deportment. 
They were torn from an affluent home, and it is said a member in 
after years returned in the vain search of treasure hidden by 
them beneath their native soil. Their blood courses the veins 
of respectable families bearing other names, both in Massachu- 
setts and Connecticut ; among others, are included those of Drew, 
Peters, Winslow and Thomas. 

The town of Winslow, Me., incorporated 1771, 
was named in honor of Gen. John Winslow. The 
original grantees bore the old colony names of Brad- 
ford, Otis, Winslow, Taylor, Howard and Warren. 

Kenelm Winslow, b. at Droitwich, England, 1599, 
followed his brothers, Edward, Gilbert and John, 
to New England, about 1630; he m. Ellen, widow 
of John Adams, 1634, supposed to have been the 
Ellen Newton of the Pilgrims, (Mrs. Adams had two 
sons, John and James, and a dau. Susan, when she 
last married.) They settled on a gentle eminence 
by the sea, near the extremity of a neck of land 
lying between Green Harbor and South Rivers. 
This tract of the township was considered the Eden 



28 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

of the region. It was beautified with groves of 
majestic oaks and graceful walnuts, with the under- 
ground void of tangled shrubbery. A few of these 
groves were standing within the memory of man, 
but all have now fallen beneath the hand of the 
woodman. 

The children of Kenelm and Ellen Winslow 
were, Kenelm, b. 1635, removed to Harwich, Cape 
Cod; Ellen, b. 1637, m. Samuel Baker; Nathaniel, 
b. 1639, m. Faith Miller, and succeeded to the 
homestead of his father; Job, b. 1691, removed to 
Swansea or Freetown. Kenelm Winslow often rep- 
resented the town in the court of the colony. He 
died at Salem, and was buried there, 1672. His 
widow deceased 1681, aged 83 years. 

Nathaniel Winslow and Faith Miller m. 1664; 
had Faith, b. 1665; Nathaniel, b. 1667, m. Lydia 
Snow; James, b. 1669; Gilbert, b. 1673, m. Mercy 
Snow; Kenelm, b. 1675; Eleanor, b. 1677, m. John 
Jones; Josiah, b. 1681, d. 1682. The homestead 
of Kenelm Winslow, sen., passed, after the decease 
of Nathaniel, his son, to Kenelm, his son, who m. 
Abigail Waterman ; then to their son Kenelm, who 
m. Abigail Bourn of Barnstable, whose son Kenelm 
was the last resident of the family name thereon. 
He removed to Kennebec County, Me., where he 
recently deceased. The families of this name, both 
in Lincoln and Waldo Counties, are, with perhaps 
others, descended from Kenelm Winslow, sen. On 
this estate remains, in fine preservation, one of the 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 29 

most ancient dwelling-houses in the township, now 
the residence of Capt. Asa Waterman. 

Capt. Nathaniel Winslow, b. 1667, agreeable to a 
day-book of his, commanded, early in the last cen- 
tury, the sloop Seaflower, engaged in freighting oak 
wood from Careswell Creek to Boston. The price 
then at Careswell was seven shillings per cord. 
This was consigned to Philip Haskins, wharfinger, 
Mr. Bird and Mr. Archer, at an advance of seven 
shillings per cord. This post of maritime command, 
we suppose, was as high as the charge of a clipper 
ship to California is at the present time. 

Josias Winslow, youngest brother of Gov. Edward 
Winslow, was born at Droitwich, Eng., 1605, and 
arrived in the colony with his brother Kenelm. He 
settled on a lawn extending from the more elevated 
lands of his brother Kenelm, southerly, to the north- 
ern banks of Green Harbor River. He was often 
employed in offices of public trust, was chosen town 
clerk in 1646, which office he filled until his de- 
cease, a period of nearly thirty years. He m. Mar- 
garet, dau. of the venerable Thomas Bourn. They 
had, Elizabeth, b. 1637 ; Jonathan, b. 1638 ; Mar- 
garet, b. 1640; Rebecca, b. 1642; Susanna, b. 1644; 
and Mary, b. . 

Josias Winslow d. 1674. Margaret, his widow, d. 

1683. Their only son, Jonathan, d. 1676, aged 38 ; 

leaving a son John, b. 1664, m. Mary, and had 

William, b. 1718, Eleanor, b. 1709, and Faith, 1706. 

3* 



30 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

John, the last named, alienated the home of his 
fathers, it is said, from fear ; fancying from its lawn- 
like lands, and their contiguity to the sea, that it 
would eventually sink beneath its storm-stirred 
waves. He removed either to Bristol County or 
the south part of the County of Plymouth. His 
fears never became a reality ; the estate yet remains 
above the level of the ocean, and has been owned 
successively by four generations of the descendants 
of the senior William Ford. 

Returning to the ancestor of this branch of the 
New England Winslow family, we find one of his 
daus. m. to William Crow of Plymouth, another to 
John Miller of Yarmouth, a third, Rebecca, m. 1661, 
to John Thacher, also of Yarmouth, and Mary, m. 
10 June, 1670, to John Tracy, who was one of the 
first proprietors of Norwich, Conn. In the History 
of Norwich, by Miss Caulkins, she is named as a 
stately and beautiful woman. She deceased 1721. 
Her dau. Elizabeth, b. 1698, m. Samuel Backus, 
1716, who deceased 1740, leaving her a widow, with 
eleven children. One of this number was the dis- 
tinguished Baptist clergyman and church historian, 
the late Rev. Isaac Backus of Middleborough, Mass. 
Appended to a sermon preached by him on the 
occasion of her decease, is a letter written by 
herself, dated Norwich, 4 Nov., 1752. In this she 
gives a graphic description of her own and her son 
Samuel's imprisonment, together with others of her 
venerable associates, for refusing to pay rates for the 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 31 

support of a ministry they could not conscientiously 
approve, and from whose church fellowship they 
had withdrawn. On the preceding 15 October, on a 
dark rainy night, she was taken from her home and 
orphaned family to prison, in which she was im- 
mured thirteen days. She writes, "Jesus was in the 
midst of the furnace with me, and though I was 
bound, yet I was loosed." Her son-in-law, Gen. 
Jabez Huntington, without her knowledge or con- 
sent, cancelled the debt thus claimed. 

The lawgivers of the Old Colony are entitled to 
the grateful remembrance of their daughters, that no 
like persecutions are found written on their books. 



WHITE. 

Resolved White came to New England in the 
Mayflower, 1620, with his Pilgrim parents, Mr. 
William White and his wife Susanna. He was 
born near the time they resolved to seek a new 
home in the wilds of the Western world, and re- 
ceived his name from that circumstance. He is 
supposed to have been six years of age at the time 
of the Mayflower's arrival. He m. Judith, dan. of 
Mr. William Vassall of Scituate, and settled firstly 
on an estate granted him in that town. In 1662 
he removed to Marshfield ; here he owned a farm on 
North River, which he sold to John Rogers, 1670. 
He owned another on South River Brook, on which 
he probably resided after leaving Scituate. In 1672 



32 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



he exchanged this farm with Samuel Baker, for his, 
which is said in the deed is " adjoining," situated 
"over against Mount Skirgo." No entry of his ever 
alienating the last named is to be found on the records 
of Marshfield. Resolved White was a freeman of 
Salem, 1679-80, and was living in 1684. The date 
and place of his decease is unknown. His farm 
which he received of Samuel Baker, in exchange, 
must, from its locality, have been the estate which 
the four children of Thomas Ford divided, 1769 and 
1761, calling it the homestead of their honored 
father. Its present owners are Ichabod Wadsworth, 
Peleg Kent and others. 

The children of Resolved and Judith White were, 
William, b. 1642, d. at Marshfield, 1695; John, b. 
1644; Samuel, b. 1646, removed to Rochester, Mass. ; 
Resolved, b. 1648, d. 1670; Ann, b. 1649; Eliza- 
beth, b. 1652; Josiah, b. 1654; and Susanna, b. 
1656. Mrs. Judith White d. 1670. 

There was, early in the last century, a John White, 
residing in Salem, who was b. 1696, and d. 1781. 
He m. Rebecca Flint. They were grandparents of 
the late Joseph White of Salem, whose tragic death, 
April 6, 1830, at the age of 82, is well known. 
This Joseph White stated to his niece, Mrs. Eliza 
Story White of Boston, from a manuscript letter of 
whose is derived this information, that his grandsire, 
John, b. 1696, told him there were three distinct 
families of the name of White in Salem. We have 
no trace of Resolved White's son John, and he may 
have been father or grandfather of John, b. 1696. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 



33 



There has been a tradition in this family that they 
were of Mayflower descent. 

Peregrine White, son of Mr. William and Mrs. 
Susanna White, was born on board the Mayflower, 
in Cape Cod Harbor, November, 1620, and derived 
his name from their peregrinations, and was the first 
native-born New Englander. He came to Green 
Harbor, with the family of his stepfather, Gov. 
Edward Winslow, after 1632. He m. Sarah, dau. 
of Mr. William and Elizabeth Bassett, passengers in 
the Fortune, 1621. He settled on an estate, given 
him by his father-in-law, lying between North and 
South Rivers, not far from their united outlet to the 
ocean. This tract was early granted to Mr. Bassett 
by the freemen of the colony. 

The children of Lieut. Peregrine White were, 
Sarah, b. October, 1663, m. Thomas Young of 
Scituate, 1688, and deceased 9 August, 1755, in the 
92 year of her age. "She enjoyed her senses and 
health in good measure till towards her end, and left 
four sons surviving." 

Daniel, the eldest son of Peregrine White, suc- 
ceeded to the paternal farm; m. Hannah Hunt, 
1674, d. 1724, leaving seven sons, from whom the 
family name has been extensively spread. He, 
Peregrine, had also sons Jonathan and Peregrine, 
who removed to Middleborough, Mass., and Silva- 
nus, who deceased before his father. His youngest 
dau. was Mercy, who m. William Sherman, 1697, 
d. 1739. Peregrine White was often chosen to 
offices of trust in the township. In 1660 and in 



34 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

1673 he was representative to the General Court. 
He figured considerably in military affairs from his 
youth. Of the forces raised in the colony, 1642, 
commanded by Capt. Standish, Peregrine White is 
called the "auncient bearer." He was called Lieut. 
White until 1673, when he was chosen one of the 
Council of War, and afterwards styled Capt. White. 
"He d. of a fever, 20 July, 1704, vigorous and of a 
comely aspect to the last." Mrs. Sarah White, his 
widow, d. 22 Jan., 1711. 

The homestead of Peregrine White is owned by 
John A. and Sybil White, of the sixth generation 
from the Mayflower Pilgrim. A part of their 
dwelling-house was erected by his son Peregrine. 

The following beautiful lines having been fur- 
nished expressly for this work by the talented 
authoress, it is deemed an appropriate place for their 
insertion at the close of the sketch of this family : — 



PEREGRINE WHITE. 

BY MISS L. H. SIGOURNEY. 

'Tis bleak and wild on old Cape Cod, 

'Mid the fierce November gale, 
While there the little Mayflower roamed 

With a lingering stranger's sail ; 
And close a fair young creature clasped 

Her helpless infant's form, 
And cheerily sang, 'mid the chilling blast, 

" Oh ! a mother's heart is warm." 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 35 

'Twas wintry cold on Plymouth beach 

Where the log-reared cabins rose, 
'Mid frowning rocks and howling storms 

And the shaft of Indian foes, 
'Mid dearth of bread and thick'ning graves, — 

Yet hark to the tuneful song 
That soothed the wail of a lonely babe, — 

"Oh! a mother's heart is strong"." 



She slept — and beside her pallet low 

A being seem'd to stand, 
Who chang'd the gloom of the dreary scene 

With a wave of his spirit hand, 
Spread cultur'd fields with golden corn, 

Bade pleasant mansions rise, 
And streets with busy people throng, 

And church-spires woo the skies. 



While moving on thro' Marshfield's vales, 

'Mid the balm of her summer breeze, 
With a peaceful smile on his honor'd brow 

A fair old man she sees ; — 
Full many a change in the Mother Land, 

From the cottage to the throne, 
As well as here, in this younger sphere, 

That reverend sire hath known. 



King James, the pedant, hath found a tomb 

King Charles at Whitehall bled; 
Stout Cromwell held his twelve years' lule 

And slumbered with the dead; 
The second Charles with gibe and jest 

His royal realm surveyed ; 
The second James in panic haste 

Fled from the wreck he made. 



36 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

William and Mary hand in hand 

The sceptre's sway sustain'd ; 
Queen Ann, the last of Stuart's line, 

In regal splendor reign'd ; 
Seven sov'reigns from their palace proud 

Had Death, the Spoiler, swept, — 
Yet still his course erect and calm 

New England's first born kept. 

Then soft the guardian spirit said, 

As he took his parting flight, 
" Yon sage of fourscore years and fair, 

With locks so silvery white, 
Is he you bear with love and care — 

Your baby — Peregrine White." 
And the mother's heart was glad that day 

From the dream that had cheer'd the night. 



ADAMS. 

John and James Adams were sons of the Pilgrim 
John Adams and his wife Ellen. They probably 
came to Green Harbor with their mother, who m., 
after the decease of her first husband in 1633, 
Kenelm Winslow, Esq. 

James Adams m. Frances, dau. of Mr. William 
Vassall, 1646. They had Anne, Richard, Mary and 
Margaret. They resided on a farm, on the Marshfield 
side of North River, nearly opposite Mr. Vassall's, the 
father of Mrs. Adams. They worshiped with the 
second church in Scituate, and their children were 
carried thither for baptism. "James Adams died at 
sea, on board the good ship called the James, of 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 37 

London, 16 Jan., 1651." Did his widow Frances 
m. John Rogers? 

John Adams, Jr., son of the primitive John, m. 
Jane James, 1654. He dwelt near Mount Skirgo, 
an elevation on the Marshfield bounds of the forest 
which lies between this town and Pembroke. They 
had Joseph, Martha, and perhaps others. Joseph m. 
Alice Dingley; and had, Joanna, b. 1705; Abigail, 
b. 1709; Lydia, b. 1713, m. Elnathan Fish of 
Kingston, 1739; Alice, b. 1716, m. John Allen, 
1758; and Huldah, b. 1720, d. 1749. Joseph 
Adams d. 1750, aged 83, and Alice, his widow, d. 
1762, aged 82. The name has long been extinct in 
Marshfield. 

VASSALL. 

Mr. William Vassall, the father of Mrs. Resolved 
White and Mrs. James Adams, was probably the 
most wealthy of the Plymouth colonists. He came 
to New England with Gov. Winthrop, 1630, and 
returned the same summer. In June, 1635, he 
reembarked for New England in the ship Blessing, 
Joseph Lecester, master, accompanied by his wife 
Ann, and his children, Judith, Frances, John, Ann 
and Mary, ranging from one to sixteen years of age. 

"The Vassalls were of Italian origin. They 
came to London in the reign of James and Charles 
the First, and possessed great wealth and influence in 
that city." They also held immense estates in 
New England and the West Indies. 



38 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

William Vassall had lands both in Marshfield and 
Scituate. He settled near the banks of North 
River, on the Scituate side thereof. He denomi- 
nated his plantation "West Newland," his house, 
erected 1635, "Belie House," the whole neck of 
land, "Belle House Neck," and a field on the north 
side of the neck, "Brook Hall Field." In 1646 Mr. 
Vassall returned to England, went from thence to 
Barbadoes, where he deceased, 1655, aged 62. 

The families of this name early in Massachusetts 
Colony were descended from Samuel, the brother of 
William Vassall, who was a merchant of London. 
A monument to the memory of Samuel Vassall was 
erected in King's Chapel, Boston, 1766, by his 
great-grandson, Florentius Vassall of Jamaica. The 
town of Vassalborough, Me., was named in honor of 
the Vassall family, and was included with other 
towns in an early grant to the same. 

BOURN. 

Mr. Thomas Bourn was the eldest of the Marsh- 
field settlers, and a patriarch on its Eden. It is not 
ascertained from whence he emigrated. Circum- 
stances lead to the conclusion that he was one of 
the "men of Kent." His home lands were situated 
adjoining the estates of his sons-in-law, Josias Wins- 
low, sen., and Robert Waterman, to whom he gave 
of his own lands liberally. He was also a large 
land holder in the south part of the Colony. He 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 39 

and his Avife Elizabeth were passed life's meridian 
when we find them at Green Harbor. He d. 1664, 
aged 83. His wife d. 1660, aged 70. Their son 
John succeeded to the homestead. He m. Alice, 
dau. of Thomas Bebeech, 18 July, 1645, — the second 
marriage found recorded in the town's books. They 
had, Elizabeth, b. 1646, m. Josiah Bent; Thomas, 
b. 1647, m. Elizabeth Rouse, 1681; Alice, b. 1649, 
m. John Mann; Ann, b. 1651, m. John Baily; Mar- 
tha, b. 1653, m. Valentine Decrow ; Mary, b. 1660, 
and Sarah, 1663. The daus. of the ancestor Tho- 
mas were thus m., Lydia to Elder Nath. Tilden of 
Scituate, Martha to John Bradford, Margaret to 
Josias Winslow, sen., 1636, Elizabeth to Robert 
Waterman, 1638, and Anne to Nehemiah Smith, 
1639. Messrs. Bradford and Smith, with their 
households, were among the early settlers of Nor- 
wich, Conn. 

The present owner of the homestead of his 
fathers is the venerable Mr. John Bourn, aged 95, 
of the fifth generation from the primitive Thomas, 
his physical and mental powers being in remarkable 
preservation. He is the last survivor in the town- 
ship of the patriotic band who were in the service 
of their country during its struggle for independence. 
He was, with others from Green Harbor, with 
Gen. Thomas at Dorchester Heights on the mem- 
orable night when its fortifications were erected. 

" They're gone — those old men all are gone ! 
Like autumn's latest leaves they passed j— • 
Last of the band he stands alone, 
Bending in age's wintry blast." 



40 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



WATERMAN. 

Robert Waterman m. Elizabeth, dau. of Thomas 
Bourn, 1638, and settled next north to his brother- 
in-law, Josias Winslow, sen., on Marshfield Neck. 
He had a brother Thomas of Roxbury, ancestor of 
a part of the New England family of that name. 
Robert and Elizabeth Waterman had, Joseph, b. 
1639-40 j John, b. 1642; Thomas, b. 1644; and 
Robert. Robert Waterman, sen., d. 1652, and Josias 
Winslow and Anthony Snow were appointed guar- 
dians to his children. 

John, m. Ann Sturtevant, 1665 ; had Samuel, b. 
1666, Elizabeth, 1669, Anna, 1671, Lydia, 1678, 
Robert, 1681, and John, 16S5. John Waterman was 
one of the purchasers of the township called Free- 
town, where he probably removed. He sold his 
Marshfield lands in 1686. Thomas was one of the 
thirty purchasers of Norwich, Conn., where he re- 
moved about 1660, and married Miriam, dau. of 
Lieut. Thomas Tracy, 1668. Robert, the youngest 
son, m. Susanna Lincoln, 1675. Joseph succeeded 
to the homestead of his father. From conclusive 
circumstances it appears he m. Sarah, dau. of his 
guardian, Anthony Snow. Their children were, 
Sarah, b. 1674, m. Solomon Hewet ; Joseph, b. 1676, 
m. Susanna Snow ; Elizabeth, b. 1679, m. Ichabod 
Bartlett ; N Abigail, b. 1671, m. Kenelm Winslow, jr. ;' 
Anthony, b. 1684, m. Elizabeth Arnold ; Bethiah, 
b. 1687, m. Samuel Dogget, 1710 ; Lydia, b. 1689, 
m. John Thomas, 1714. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 41 



SNOW. 



Anthony Snow was at Plymouth 1638, where he 
m. Abigail, youngest dau. of Richard Warren of 
Mayflower memory. He was one of the early set- 
tlers at Green Harbor. His estate was on the upper 
part of Marshfield Neck. The location of his house 
and well can be found near some old apple trees, on 
the west side of a small oblong swamp, called 
" Snow's swamp ; " the only relic left sacred to the 
name of this useful man, who often represented the 
town in the court of the colony, and was otherwise an 
active man in town affairs. His children were, Josiah, 
Abigail, Lydia, Sarah and Alice. Abigail, m. Michael 
Ford. Anthony Snow d. and also his son Josiah, 
Aug. 1692. Josiah Snow m. Rebecca Baker, 1669. 
They had Lydia, b. 1672, m. Nathaniel Winslow ; 
Mercy, b. 1675, m. Gilbert Winslow ; Deborah, b. 
1677, d. 1681 ; Sarah, b. 1680, m. Samuel Baker ; 
Susanna, b. 1682, m. Joseph Waterman and Thomas 
Tracy : Abiah, the youngest, m. Nathan Thomas, 
1716. The widow of Josiah Snow m. John Sawyer 
1694, and deceased 1711. 

Anthony Snow gave the town, some years previous 
to his decease, a piece of land near the meeting- 
house for a burying place. This was not used for 
sepulchral purposes until 1721. It has recently been 
enlarged, and called Cedar Grove Cemetery. 



4* 



42 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



BEADLE OR BIDDLE. 

Joseph Beadle was a carpenter ; he m. at Plymouth 
the widow Rachel Deane, 1636; she was a passenger 
to New England in the ship Planter, 1635. He was 
a useful citizen in public matters of the township. 
He deceased 1672, without children. He resided at 
the extremity of Marshfield Neck ; and Beadle's 
Rocks, on the beach which adjoined his farm, per- 
petuate his name. His estate was appraised at over 
£221. This, which was large for the colonists at 
that period, he bequeathed to his wife, her dau. 
Martha Deane, to the Rev. Mr. Arnold, to Jacob 
Bumpus, his late servant, and to the town's poor. 
His step-daughter, Martha Deane, m. James Clement, 
1674; he d. the same year, and Martha Clement was 
m. to Mr. James Powell in 1676. 



BRANCH. 

John Branch was an early proprietor of the islet bear- 
ing his name. He was son of Peter Branch, carpen- 
ter, of Kent County, Eng., who d. on board the ship 
Castle, during her passage to New England, 1638. 
It appears by his will, dated 16 June, 1638, that the 
said John was his only child. He committed him, 
with his estate, to the care of Thomas Wiborne, late 
of Tenterden, Kent, for eleven years. In case of 
his son's decease in that period, his estate was to go 
' : to the poor of the congregations of Scituate and 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 43 

Concord, and that congregation that goes in the ship 
called the Castle, if there be a company of them, if 
not, to be divided between the aforesaid two," five 
pounds excepted, which was given to the widow of 
Stephen Igleden or her children. 

John Branch m. Mary Speed, 1652. They had 
John, who was slain with Capt. Pierce, near Reho- 
both, 1076. Elizabeth, b. 1656, Peter, b. 1659, 
Thomas, b. 1661, d. at Boston, 1683, and Mercy, b. 
1664; John Branch d. 17 August, 1711. There ex- 
ists a tradition that one of the last proprietors of the 
island, of this family name, was drowned in swim- 
ming his horse over Green Harbor River, on his 
return from a visit to his friends at Plymouth. One 
version of this disaster says his wife shared his sad 
decease. Experience Branch and his wife Lydiad. 
Nov. 1699 ; she on the 5th and her husband on the 
14th. 

WINTER AND HEWETT. 

Christopher Winter succeeded Mr. John Bradford 
in the occupancy of Governor's Island after 1660. 
He was of Plymouth, 1639, " where he was fined 
ten shillings for publishing himself in marriage to 
Jane Cooper, contrary to order and custom of this 
government," whether the said Jane ever became 
Mrs. Winter, is not written. He had daus. Mary, 
m. to John Read, 1668 ; Martha, m. to John Hewet, 
1668, and Ann, m. to Robert Batson, 1676. 

Christopher Winter d. 1683, and his son-in-law, 



44 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

Hewet, succeeded to his island home. His children 
were, Solomon, b. 1670, Bridget, b. 1673, Elizabeth, 
b. 1675, Winter, b. 1678, Christopher, b. 1681, Marcy, 
b. 1686, and Lydia, b. 1689 ; Martha, the mother, 
d. 1691. 

John Hewet was probably descended from Tho- 
mas Huet, who came to New England with the 
founders of the township of Hingham. 

This island bore the name of He wet's Island, after 
the decease of Winter. That resort of the sports- 
men and fear of the mariner, " the Brant Rock," lies 
extending into the sea, between this and Branch's 
Island. 

GORAM, GORUM, [GORHAM.] 

The first inhabitant of the name found in New 
England, is Ralph Gorram, Daxbury, 1637. From 
that invaluable work, Savage's Gleanings, &c, we 
trace his European descent on this wise: — Ralph 
Gorram, b. 1575, was son of James Gorram of Ben- 
efield, b. 1550, m. to Agnes Bernington, 1572, and 
d. 1576. " This family was descended from the 
De Gorrams of La Tarmiere, near Gorram, in Maine, 
on the borders of Brittany, where William, son of 
Ralph de Gorram, built a castle in 1128. A branch 
came over to England with the Conqueror. 

"John Gorram, one of the early settlers at Green 
Harbor, was baptized at Benefield, Northamptonshire, 
28 Jan., 1620-1 ; came to the old Colony with his 
father, Ralph. He m. at Plymouth, 1644, Desire, 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 45 

dan. of the Hon. John Rowland, of Mayflower 
memory, andgrandanghter of John Carver, the first 
governor of the colony. Their children were, De- 
sire, b. at Plymouth, 1644; Temperance, b. 1646; 
Elizabeth, b. 1648 ; James, b. 1650 ; and John, b. 
1651, at Marshfield ; Joseph, b. at Yarmouth, 1653 ; 
Jabez, b. 1656 ; Mercy, b. 1658 ; and Lydia, 1661, 
at Barnstable."—! N. E. H. & G. Reg., 11, 67. 

John Gorham resided at Green Harbor, near the 
hill which bears his name ; an olden home-lot, very 
apparent in its vicinity, was doubtless where his 
dwelling-house stood. He was, while resident here, 
often employed in public affairs, and was occasion- 
ally connected with Joseph Beadle in the bridge 
building business. Of these the settlers must have 
stood in much need, having so many rivers coursing 
their way through the settlement to the sea. Capt. 
John Gorham d. at Swansey, of a fever, while in 
command of a company in Philip's war. His widow 
d. 13 Oct., 1683. 

An anecdote connected with the marriage of Ly- 
dia, the youngest dau. of Capt. Gorham, has been 
preserved, as follows : " John Thatcher, while on 
his return from Marshfield, to his home in Yarmouth, 
in 1661, with his bride Rebecca, dau. of Josias 
Winslow, sen., tarried for a night in Barnstable, at 
the house of Capt. Gorham. In the merry conver- 
sation with the happy pair, an infant was introduced, 
and the night of her birth, named. Mr. Thatcher 
observed it was the night of their marriage ; taking 



46 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

the child he presented it to his bride, saying, 'Here, 
my dear, is a little lady, born on the night we were 
married : I wish you would kiss her, for I intend to 
make her my second wife.' 'I will,' she replied, 
1 to please you, hoping it may be long before your 
intention is fulfilled.' Then taking the babe she 
affectionately kissed it and returned it to the nurse's 
arms. This jesting prediction was eventually ful- 
filled." Mrs. Rebecca Thatcher deceased in the 
midst of her years, and Lydia Gorham became the 
second wife of John Thatcher in 1684. The de- 
scendants of Capt. John Gorham have been very 
numerous and respectable. Gorham, Me., incorpo- 
rated 1764, was named out of respect to Capt. Gor- 
ham, whose descendants were some of the grantees. 
The first English birth in this place was a dau. of 
Capt. John Phinney, b. 13 Aug. 1736, and called 
Mary Gorham ; she died, 1825, a lady of great piety, 
the wife of Capt. James Irish. 

ROUSE. 

John Rouse settled early at Careswell Creek ; his 
wife was Annis Pabodie, dau. of John and Isabel 
Pabodie, original settlers at Duxbury. Mrs. Rouse 
had a brother Francis, who settled at Topsfield ; m. 
Mary, dau. of Reginald Foster, ancestor of all the 
Peabody's in the country; and also John, of Dux- 
bury, who m. Elizabeth, dau. of the primitive John 
Alden, who is ancestor of all the Pabodies. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 47 

The children of John and Annis Rouse were. 



Anna, who m. Isaac Holmes, 1678 ; Mary, b. 1640, 
m. a Price; John, b. 1643; Simon, b. 1645; George, 
b. 1648; and Elizabeth, who m. Thomas Bourn, 
1681. John Rouse, sen., d. at Careswell Creek, 1684. 
John Rouse, jr., m. Mary Rogers, 1656, deceased, 
1711. George and Simon were among the purcha- 
sers of Little Compton, 1674 ; and probably removed 
thither. The Careswell Creek estate came into the 
possession of the dau., Elizabeth Bourn, or her 
children. Dea. Rouse Bourn was the last hereditary 
owner of said estate. He removed to Winthrop, Me., 
before 1820, where he was recently living at an 
advanced age. 

The historian of Scituate calls John Rouse, sen., 
the unfortunate man who was imprisoned and pub- 
licly whipped for being a Quaker, on the accusation 
of Christopher Winter. We believe some of the 
family of John Rouse became Friends, but he was 
not the subject of this inhuman persecution. In 
Sewall's History of this injured people, he is called 
the son of a gentleman of Barbadoes. We are 
happy to think the government of Plymouth Colony 
did not carry its severities to this people to the 
awful extent it reached in Massachusetts; and we 
are proud of Isaac Robinson, Timothy Hatherly 
and James Cudworth, associates of our own Josias 
Winslow, for refusing to sign the circular sent them 
from the Massachusetts Colony recommending cap- 
ital punishment for- worshiping God in a different 



48 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

form from their own ; — green as Green Harbor ever 
be their memories ! 



BOMPASSE, BUMPUS, BUMP. 

Edward Bompasse, one of the first comers, a pas- 
senger in the Fortune, 1621, lived in the neighbor- 
hood of Careswell, near Duck Hill, so called. His 
wife's christian name was Hannah. Their children 
were, Sarah, who m. Thomas Durvam, 1649; Faith, 
b. 1631; Elizabeth, b. 1633; John, b. 1636; Ed- 
ward, b. 1638; Joseph, b. 1639; Jacob, b. 1644; 
and Hannah, b. 1646. Edward Bumpus deceased 
1693, and Hannah, his widow, followed him to their 
spirit home in two days therefrom. 

This family removed to the southerly part of the 
Colony and Cape Cod. 

PITNEY. 

James Pitney, a freeman of the Colony 1643, was 
a felt-maker. He had a number of tracts of land 
granted him in the township; one at Mt. Skirgo, 
which he sold to Baker and Adams, 1647; another 
at Green Harbor, sold to James Lindall, 1646. He 
removed to Boston after 1650. His will is found 
on the probate records of the Old Colony, of which 
he appoints his daughter, Sarah Thomas, executrix. 
It is probable he returned to his daughter's, at Green 
Harbor, prior to his decease. His wife Sara, aged 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 



49 



22; and his children, Sara, aged 7, and Samuel, 
aged 1J years; together with Margaret Pitney, 
probably a sister of James, aged 22; were passengers 
to New England in the ship Planter. They were 
from Sudbury, Suffolk County, England. 

LYNDALL, LINDALL. 

James Lindall had a garden place at Dnxbury, 
1640, near the bounds of Marshfield. He purchased 
lands, in 1646, on the west side of Green Harbor 
River, Marshfield, of James Pitney. In 1648, a 
tract of land adjoining his first purchase, extending 
from the river up into the woods to Scituate Path, 
which was first granted to John Cary, was instated 
by the freemen on James Lindall ; — " Sd James 
having promist to come and live on y e same, within 
five or six years, or else build upon it and place 
such a one as shall be approved ; and the sd James 
Lindall doth promise yearly to pay to y e main- 
tenance of y e ministry in the Church at Marshfield, 
till he comes to live on y e sd lands, the sum of ten 
shillings a year, and afterward more if God enable 
him." 

James Lindall's will is dated at Duxbury, 10 Aug., 
1652, within the time allotted for his removal to his 
Marshfield estate. He and his wife Mary both 
deceased during that year; and it is conjectural, 
from its vicinity and the connecting circumstances, 
that their remains were interred on the ancient 
5 



50 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

burying hill at Green Harbor. They left two 
minor children, Timothy and Abigail, placed by 
the court under the care of Constant Southworth, 
the especial friend of their father. Timothy re- 
moved to Salem, 1660, where he became a pros- 
perous merchant and distinguished citizen. He d. 
1698-9, aged 56 years and 7 months. Abigail m. 
Capt. Samuel Wadsworth of Milton, who was killed 
by the Indians at the Sudbury fight, 21 April, 1676. 

HOLMES. 

William Holmes, planter, was of Scituate as early 
as 1641, where he had baptized — Abraham, 1641; 
Israel, 1642; Isaac, 1644; Sarah, 1646; Rebecca, 
1648; Josiah, 1650, and Mary, 1655; to which may 
be added John, b. probably before their emigration 
to New England. Mr. Holmes removed subse- 
quently to Marshfield, and settled next south to 
Goodman Carver and Goodman Dingley, near the 
Lindall estate. He d. 1678, aged 86. His widow 
Elizabeth d. 1697, at the same age. 

John, their eldest son, succeeded the Rev. Ralph 
Partridge as pastor of the church at Duxbury. He 
m. Mary, dau. of John Wood of Plymouth, 1661, 
and d. 1675. His widow became the third wife of 
Maj. William Bradford. "Mr. Holmes as a preacher 
was sincere, but mild and gentle, and endeared 
himself to his flock by the meekness and lowliness 
of his soul." — Winsor's Duxbury. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 51 

Abraham, son of William, m. Elizabeth, dau. of 
the Rev. Samuel Arnold. They had Elizabeth, 
Isaac, Bathsheba, m. Samuel Doggett, 1691, and 
Rose, who m. Thomas Blanchard of Andover, 
1698-9. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Holmes d. 1690 ; and Mr. Holmes 
m. Abigail Nichols of Hingham, 1695. This family 
removed to Rochester, Mass. 

Israel, son of William, m. Desire, the widow of 
William Sherman, 1684. Her maiden name was 
Dotey. She was m. to William Sherman, jr., 1667; 
he d. 1679; and she m. Israel Holmes, 1681, who 
was drowned in Plymouth Harbor, 1684; after this 
she became the second wife of Alexander Standish, 
eldest son and heir of Capt. Miles Standish, and 
mother of his three youngest children, Desire, Tho- 
mas and Ichabod. She had five sons and daughters 
by her first husband, two sons, Israel and John 
Holmes, by her second, making ten children. She 
d. January, 1731, aged 86 years, and a gravestone in 
Cedar Grove Cemetery marks the spot of her inter- 
ment. Her daughter, Experience Sherman, b. 1678, 
m. Miles Standish, her step-son. He inherited the 
celebrated homestead of his father at Captain's Hill, 
where he d. 1739. His widow lived until 1744, 
and is supposed to be the last occupant of the name, 
of that elevated and beautiful peninsula. 



52 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

DINGLEY. 

John Dingley came into Lynn, Massachusetts 
government, 1637, from whence he went with a 
colony to Sandwich, where he stopped a while ; but, 
with his associate, Thomas Chillingworth, was at 
Marshfield not far from the time of its incorporation, 
where they permanently settled. It is believed that 
some tie of consanguinity existed between these 
families. The children of John and Sarah Dingley 
were, John, d. 1655; Mary, who m. Josias, son of 
Capt. Miles Standish, 1654, d. and was buried at 
Duxborough, 1 July, 1655 ; Sarah, who m. William 
Ford, 1658 ; Hannah, who m. Josias Keen ; and Jacob. 

John Dingley, sen., d. 1658. He was often chosen 
to officiate in town affairs. The family name is 
found on the homestead. 

CARVER. 

Robert Carver had lands granted him at Green 
Harbor. 1638. In 1643, a farm was given him 
lying between the estates of Edward Winslow and 
William Thomas. This had been given by Edward 
Winslow to the town, for the better accommodation 
of a neighborhood ; and was transferred, with Wins- 
low's approval, to John Thomas, 1649, with the 
housing and fencing thereon. Carver removed to 
another grant, near Mr. Bulkely's and Goodman 
Dingley's. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 



53 



Robert Carver d. 1680, aged 86, having outlived 
his wife Christian, 22 years. They had one son, 
John, who m. Mellicent Ford, 1658, and deceased, 
1649, aged 42. His widow m. Thomas Drake of 
Weymouth. 

John and Mellicent Carver had, William, b. 1659, 
John, Elizabeth, b. 1663, Robert, Eleazer, David, 
Mercy, b. 1672, Anna and Mehetabel. 

William, the eldest, succeeded to the homestead, 
and m. Elizabeth, dau. of Deac. John Foster, 1682. 
He died 2 Oct., 1760, aged 101 years 9 months 
and 14 days. This farm is owned by descendants 
of the name. 

THOMAS. 

William Thomas, a Welch gentleman, one of the 
merchant adventurers, came into the colony about 
1630. Came to Green Harbor, with Mr. Blinman, 
about 1641, and became a permanent settler there 
1645. He acted in the public affairs of both town 
and colony, and as late as the May prior to his de- 
cease in August, we find him presiding at one of 
these posts of duty. He deceased, August, 1651, 
aged 77. Secretary Morton leaves us the following 
tribute to his memory : — 

" 1651. This year, Mr. William Thomas expired 

his natural life, in much peace and comfort. He 

served in the place of magistracy divers years ; he 

was a well approved and well grounded Christian j 

5* 



54 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

well read in the Holy Scriptures and other approved 
authors ; a good lover and approver of godly ministers 
and good christians, and one that had a sincere desire 
to promote the common good both of church and 
state. He died of consumption and was honorably 
buried at Marshfield." 

His son, Capt. Nathaniel, succeeded to the estate. 
He was of transatlantic birth and in the prime of 
manhood when he came to Green Harbor. He is 
then called Lieut. Thomas, and commanded one of 
the watches maintained there for fear of an attack 
from the Indians, in 1643. In the course of this 
year he was appointed, by the court, town's captain. 
He d. 1674, aged about 68. His remains, with those 
of his father, repose in brick graves, north of the 
centre of the field which they had given to the dead 
of Green Harbor. There can be found, with the 
inscriptions now almost effaced, their fragmentary 
memorial stones. 

His children were, William, b. 1638, d. unmarried; 
Mary, who m. Simon Ray, of Block Island ; Na- 
thaniel, b. 1643 ; and Elizabeth, b. 1646, and per- 
haps others. In 1652 he confirmed the gift of his 
father of 100 acres of land for a parsonage. 

Nathaniel Thomas, Esq., b. 1643, m. Deborah, 
dau. of Nicholas Jacob, of Hingham, 1663; she d. 
1696, and the widow of Capt. Tom Condy, of Boston, 
was his second wife. He was an officer in Philip's 
war, and the day after the commencement of hostili- 
ties, addressed Gov. Winslow thus, by letter : — 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 55 

Swanzey, June 25, 1675. 
Right Honored Sir : 

" A particular account of our arrival here, and the sad provi- 
dence that, yesterday, fell out at Mattapoisett, of the loss of six 
men, without doubt you have from our General, [Cudworth,] which 
may 1 desire be an inducement to you to strengthen our towns, 
that are weakened by our departure, since the Indians do their 
exploits on outhouses and straggled persons. It is reported, cred- 
ibly, that Uncas sent Philip twenty men last Saturday. Sennight 
and Nanno sent him word that if he sent him six English heads, 
then all the Indians in the country were engaged against the 
English. Sir, our men are all well and cheerful, through God's 
mercy. Send not your southward men to us, but secure your- 
selves with them. Send us help from the Massachusetts, which 
is our General's and Counsel's advice. The forces here are dis- 
persed to several places of the town and some to Rehoboth, which 
this day we intend to draw into a narrower compass ; in which, 
when we have done, we intend to lay ambushment in the Indian's 
walks, to cut off their men as they do cut off our men ; for their 
present motion is to send forth scouts to lie in our walks, to make 
discovery and cut off our men. I pray, sir, remember me to my 
wife, and bid her be of good cheer ; the Lord is our keeper. Our 
soldiers here desire to be remembered to their wives and friends. 
Wili Ford is well of his ague. Thus desiring your honor's and 
all God's people's prayers for us, 

I remain, 

Your honor's servant, 

NATHANIEL THOMAS. 

Nathaniel and Deborah [Jacobs] Thomas, had 
Nathaniel, Joseph, Deborah, Dorothy, William, Eli- 
sha, Joshua, Caleb, Isaac and Mary, bom from 1664 
to 1686. 



56 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

Nathaniel, son of Nathaniel Thomas, 2d, m. Mary 
Appleton, 1694. They had three sons, John, Na- 
thaniel, and Joseph. He d. and was buried at Ply- 
mouth, 1738. His son John succeeded to the Green 
Harbor estate, and m. Mary, dau. of Simon and Ju- 
dith [Manwaring] Ray, of New London, 1724. 
They had eight children, b. from 1724 to 1737. 
John Thomas and his wife both deceased, 1737, 
leaving at their departure but one surviving child, 
Nathaniel Ray, who became the noted loyalist of 
Marshneld. He was b. 1731, and d. at Windsor, 
Nova Scotia, 19 Sept., 1787. 

It is said that when Gov. Hutchinson exercised 
his blandishments upon an individual, and applied 
them in all their force, he seldom failed of prevailing, 
and Nath'l Ray Thomas fell a victim to these allure- 
ments. He was appointed a mandamus counsellor, 
and his mansion house was converted into quarters 
for British troops. He joined the British army at 
Boston, and accompanied it to Halifax on its evacua- 
tion thereof. His family returned to their home 
after the retreat of the Queen's Guards therefrom, 
having sojourned at a neighbor's during that period. 
At the close of the war, this beautiful inheritance of 
their father's, with the exception of one third, was 
confiscated, and they joined, with one exception, viz., 
the late Capt. John Thomas, their husband and 
father, at Nova Scotia. Were not the sacrifices of 
Nath'l Ray Thomas as great to royalty, as his neigh- 
bors' and namesakes' were to liberty ? 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 57 

Mrs. Thomas was the dau. of Henry and Elizabeth 
Packer Deering, of Boston ; she left an excellent 
character at Green Harbor. During the direful 
" dearth of bread," at one period of the war, she fed 
the very people from whom, in the warmth of party 
feeling, she had met much indignity. She deceased, 
1810, at Windsor, Nova Scotia, aged 78 years. The 
following stanzas are extracted, from a tribute to her 
memory, by Mrs. Cunningham, dau. of the late 
Hon. Perez Morton : — 

" Oh, snatched too soon ! ere love could find 

One life bound hope decay, 
Ere time or sorrow from thy mind 

Could steal one charm away. 

For though around thy fading brows 

The wintry storms had prest, 
Yet all, that cheerful summer knows, 

Was pictured in thy breast. 

Still flashed the eye — and sparkling played 

More than could lips express, 
And still the melting smile displayed 

A soul of tenderness. 

That soul by sense and judgment moved, 

By virtue's self inspired, 
Thou wert in every scene beloved, 

Through every change admired. 

Though at thy heart so oft were driven 

The arrows of Despair, 
The tearful eyes were raised to Heaven 

And shielding Faith was there." 



58 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



The following extracts are from an historical let- 
ter, and other papers, forwarded by John Thomas, 
Esq., of Irvington, N. Y., which he received of Mrs. 
Henry Ward, to whose husband the letter was ad- 
dressed, when a boy at school of the age of 9 years. 

Warwick, March 5th, 1793. 

My father, grandfather, and great grandfather, were all named 
Simon Ray. I shall distinguish them by first, second, and third ; 
Simon Ray, 2d, came from England with his father, a lad of about 
sixteen years, to Plymouth ; a very respectable family. Whether 
his mother came or not, I do not know. But about the time 
Simon Ray, 2d, grew up, his father married a widow George, 
with ten children, which offended him, and he with seven others 
went to Block Island, and purchased it ; and they had but one 
cow to three families, and they used to catch fish called horse 
mackerel, and make hasty pudding, and put the milk in as we do 
molasses, that was their breakfast. They went four mile into the 
neck to clear the land. At night, when they came home, that 
was their supper, and they all lived in love and harmony, like so 
many good brothers. After a while, a son of the George family, 
having heard of the purchase S. Ray, 2d, had made, came to 
Block Island to see him. It was rare to see visitors, and being 
a connection of his father, and he of a benevolent make, and 
land plenty, told him he would give him half of his purchase if he 
would clear it, which he readily accepted ; and that is the land 
owned by the Mitchells and Paines, at this time. 

S. Ray, 3d, always kept them in fear of dispossessing them ; 
but I believe he gave them a quitclaim before he died ; I don't 
know at what age. But when Simon Ray, 2d, married a 
Thomas, at Marshfield, of a very good family, and brought her 
to Block Island, and had three daughters. Mary, the eldest, mar- 
ried an Englishman, who carried her to England, and she was the 
first American lady introduced to the king, and kissed his hand ; 
the second were Saba, she married a Sands, on Long Island, and 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 59 

that family were her offspring, Comfort and those at Block Island. 
The 3d was Dorothy ; she married a Clapp, at Rye, — some of 
them are living, — very clever people. Simon Ray, 3d, was their 
only son ; I don't know his age when his mother died ; but although 
he, S. Ray, 2d, was offended and left his father because he m. 
a widow with ten children, he married a widow with eleven ; and 
then Simon Ray, the 3d, left his father and went to New London 
and married a Manovin ; by whom he had a Simon, Gideon, Na- 
thaniel and Mary. Simon and Gideon were sea-faring men, of 
excellent character ; Nathaniel was a tiller of the ground ; he had 
one son, Simon Ray, and died. The son, Simon Ray, the 3d, 
educated at New Haven College. His three sons, and grandson, 
all died, I think, between the age of 20 and 23 years. Their sis- 
ter, Mary, went to Marshfield to visit her relations, and there she 
married into her own family, a Thomas ; she died young, leaving 
an only child, Nathaniel Ray. He was left rich ; a farm that 
would cut 100 loads of salt hay, well stocked house, well furnished 
with everything. He was educated at Cambridge, and when he 
was of age it was all wasted but the land. He married Sally 
Deering, of Boston, a charming girl, and your grandma was at 
the wedding ; had sack posset and a beautiful drest plumb cake 
for supper. They had a large family of children ; and when the 
war came he was chosen a mandamus councillor, and being badly 
advised, accepted it, and went off with the regulars and died at 
Halifax. His widow lives genteelly in that country on a farm. 
Simon Ray, 3d, lived a widower twenty-one years ; had buried all 
his sons, and his daughter lived so far from him, that he came to 
Warwick and married my mother, a maiden lady of 37 years, 
Deborah Greene, sister to Daniel and Phillip Greene, and daugh- 
ter of Job and Phebe Greene. He was a councillor, had a large 
landed estate. They went to Block Island, and had we four lovely 
sisters ; Judith, who married a Hubbard; Ann, who married your 
grandaddy, Samuel Ward ; Catharine, your grandma Greene, and 
Phebe, who married a Littlefie — , probably Littlefield. 

Now I must return to Simon Ray, 2d. He lived to be 101 years 
1 month and 1 day old. He was blind and lame many years. In 
the French war, a privateer landed and used the inhabitants very 



60 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

ill. He had a chest moved and they supposed it was money. 
They tied him to a tree, and whipped him to make him tell, and I 
think they left him for dead. After he was lame, he learned a 
great deal of the Bible by heart ; he could say all the Psalms, the 
New Testament, and a great deal of the Old. My father went 
in one day and asked him how he did ; he said very poorly ; for 
he made it a constant rule to repeat, I've forgot how many Psalms 
and chapters in a day, and to-day I've only repeated fifty. He 
asked my father one day how the season was. Oh ! said my father, 
a very severe drought, and seemed to repine. He said, my son, 
let God alone to govern the earth. I just remember him, sitting 
in an arm chair, with white hair, and being pleasant ; and the night 
he died he called us all to him, and told us to remember our Creator 
in the days of our youth, and the advantage of living virtuous 
lives and making God our friend, and the peace and happiness we 
should enjoy in the other world. I remember my mother cutting 
up plain cake and cheese at his funeral, and she cut it in a cheese 
tub, and it was served in pewter platters ; he desired her to do it. 
You are descended of reputable ancestors on all sides. You had 
four grandaddy governors, and that you may be as worthy man 
as they all were, is the sincere wish of 

Your affectionate grandma, 

CATY GREENE. 

John Thomas, an orphan boy of 14 years, was a 
passenger to New England, in the ship Hopewell, 
1635. A tradition is transmitted to us, that a pater- 
nal property had been lost to him by being improp- 
erly entrusted. He was kindly taken under the care 
and protection of Gov. Edward Winslow, and was 
long the faithful steward at Careswell. His name 
stands, next to Winslow's on the first list of those 
who bore arms in the township. He m. Sarah, d. of 
James Pitney, 1648. The farm which Gov. Winslow 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 61 

gave for the better accommodation of a neighbor- 
hood, was transferred to him 1649, where he lived. 
He d. abont 1676, and Sarah, his widow, 1682. 

Their children, were John, b. 1649, m. Sarah ; 

Elizabeth, b. 1652. She was the female attendant 
of the distinguished Pilgrim mother, Susanna White 
Winslow, in her declining years ; and by her the 
tradition of the dutiful deportment of her son Pere- 
grine to her has been handed down. 

Samuel, b. 1655, m. Mercy, dau. of Dea. William 
Ford, 1680; Daniel, b. 1659, m. Experience, dau. of 
Thomas Tilden, 1698 ; Sarah, b. 1661, m. Benjamin 
Phillips, 1681 ; James, b. 1663, m. Mary, dau. it is 
believed, of Stephen Tilden ; Ephraim, b. 1667-8, 
a member of the emigrating party from Green Har- 
bor to Little Compton ; and Israel, b. 1670, m. Be- 
thiah Sherman, deacon of the First Church from 
1734 to his decease, 1755. 

John, jr., succeeded to the paternal home. He 
was drowned, 1699, leaving no children. The 
homestead was next transferred to John, eldest son 
of his brother Samuel, who m. Lydia Waterman, 
1714. They had Zeruiah, 1714, m. James Bradford 
and removed to Plainfield, Conn, j Ann, b. 1717, d. 
early ; Anthony, b. 1719, m. Abigail Alden ; John, 
b. 1724 ; Sarah, b. 1726, m. Jeremiah Kinsman and 
removed to Connecticut ; and Kezia, b. 1730, d. 
1751. 

John, son of John and Lydia Waterman Thomas, 
m. Hannah, dau. of Nathaniel Thomas, Esq., of 
6 



62 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

Plymouth, a woman of intelligence and accomplish- 
ments, who lived to an advanced age, dying 1819, 
universally respected. He was a physician, having 
studied medicine with Dr. Tufts, of Medford, and 
commenced the practice of his profession in his na- 
tive place, Green Harbor. In a few years he removed 
to Kingston, near Plymouth, where he practised suc- 
cessfully, except when connected with the army, 
until his decease. 

In 1746 he accompanied a body of troops to An- 
napolis Royal, as second surgeon. In 1755 he was 
appointed surgeon's-mate, in Shirley's Regiment, 
but soon left the medical staff and was appointed a 
lieutenant. In 1759 he received a Colonel's com- 
mission, and continued with the Provincial Army 
until the capitulation of Montreal, where he com- 
manded the Massachusetts and New Hampshire 
troops. 

The commencement of the American revolution 
found Col. Thomas engaged in the practice of his 
medical calling, at Kingston, amid domestic happi- 
ness, professional distinction, and military fame. In 
September, 1774, a Congress of the County of Ply- 
mouth, was held at Plympton, and by adjournment, 
at Plymouth. John Thomas, Esq., was one of the 
delegates from Kingston, and Col. Anthony Thomas 
and Capt. William Thomas were the delegates from 
Marshfield. The resolutions then adopted were con- 
sidered well suited to the critical state of the times. 
In Provincial Congress, February, 1775, Col. Tho- 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 63 

mas was appointed one of the general officers of the 
army. 

Previous to the battle of Lexington, the said Con- 
gress created the office of Lieutenant General, and 
appointed him thereto. Soon after the Continental 
Congress claimed the army at Cambridge as the army 
of the United Colonies, and appointed general officers 
to command the same. Thomas, by some precedence 
in dates, was not appointed the first brigadier of the 
army, to which command he was entitled, although 
he was so called in the commission. Gen. Wash- 
ington, in his first letter to Congress from Cambridge 
Camp, dated July 10, 1775, regrets the steps which 
had been taken in the appointment of general officers 
in Massachusetts and Connecticut, and writes, "Gen. 
Thomas is much esteemed, and most earnestly desired 
to continue in the service. I must join the general 
opinion, that he is an able and good officer, and his 
resignation would be a public loss." 

Washington, in a letter to Gen. Schuyler, says, 
" The arrangement of the general officers in Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut has been very unpopular 
and injudicious, and is returned to Congress for fur- 
ther consideration, and has much retarded my plan 
of discipline." 

Congress passed a special resolve that Gen. Tho- 
mas should have the precedence of all the brigadiers 
in the army, in which decision the army and the 
public fully acquiesced. But previous to the decision 
of Congress, Thomas had withdrawn from his com- 



64 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

mand, at Roxbury, concluding that he could not, in 
honor, serve in an army and be commanded by those 
he had so recently in command. Efforts were made 
in various quarters to retain him in the army, which 
have no parallel in the military annals of this country 
or Europe. The first letter of solicitation was from 
James Warren, Speaker of the House of Represent- 
atives, dated Watertown, 22 July. 1775 ; another, 
under date of July 23, 1775, was from Gen. Lee, 
said to be the first time in his life he ever conde- 
scended to address any one in the language of en- 
treaty. Under the same date is found a long letter 
from Gen. Washington, soliciting, in the most forcible 
language, his continuance in the army, from which 
we make the following extracts. 

After depicting eloquently the danger to his country 
of his retiring from its service, he says : — 

" I admit, sir, that your claims and services have not had due 
respect ; worthy men of all nations and countries have had reason 
to make the same complaint ; but they nobly stifled the dictates 
of resentment and made their enemies ashamed of their injustice. 
And can America show no such instances of magnanimity ? For 
the sake of your bleeding- country, your devoted province, your 
charter rights, and by the memory of those brave men who have 
already fallen in this great cause, I conjure you to banish from 
your mind every suggestion of anger and disappointment ; your 
country will do ample justice to your merits ; they already do it 
by the sorrow and regret expressed on the occasion, and the sac- 
rifice you are called to make, will, in the judgment of every good 
man and lover of his country, do you more honor than the most 
distinguished victory. You possess the confidence and affection 
of the troops of this province particularly. Before it is too late, 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 65 

I entreat, sir, you would weigh well the greatness of the stake, 
and upon how much smaller circumstances the fate of empires 
has depended. As to myself, sir, be assured I shall with pleasure 
do all in my power to make your situation easy and honorable, and 
that the sentiments here expres ed flow from a clear opinion that 
your duty to your country, your posterity, and yourself, most ex- 
plicitly require your continuance in the service. 

The order and rank of the commissions is under the considera- 
tion of the Continental Congress, whose determination will be re- 
ceived in a few days ; but, at all events, I shall flatter myself that 
the result will be your resolution to assist your country in this day 
of distress. That you may reap the full reward which such a 
conduct deserves, is the sincere wish of 

Sir, 
You very 

Obedient and most humble servant, 

GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

" The Address of the Field Officers belonging to the Camp in 
Roxbury. 

To the Hon. John Thomas, Esq. : 

Sir, — Your appointment as Lieutenant General by the Pro- 
vincial Congress, in consequence of which you took the supreme 
command in this camp, gave singular satisfaction to all acquainted 
with your character, both on account of your inflexible attach- 
ment to the liberties of your country, and your knowledge and 
experience in military movements ; and to your vigilance, pru- 
dence and skilful management is to be ascribed, in a great 
measure, that order and regularity for which this camp has been 
celebrated, and which are essentially requisite to the very being 
of an army. To these important services you have the purest 
incense to a great and good mind, the unfeigned thanks of the 
officers and soldiers under your immediate command, as well as 
of every friend to his country and the rights of mankind. We 
6* 



66 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

are penetrated with the deepest concern that, by an unfortunate 
concurrence of events, an arrangement is made which leads you 
to think that you cannot continue in the army consistent with 
those delicate and refined sentiments of honor which are pecu- 
liarly characteristic of the soldier. We would not solicit you to 
do anything- derogatory to your reputation, or the rank you have 
formerly sustained ; but as no man has so much endeared himself 
to the regiments which compose your brigade as yourself, we 
earnestly request that you would assume the command of it; 
that vast dignity and consequence of the cause we are contending 
for, may be more than a counterpois to other considerations, of 
what nature soever, that your country may still be advantaged by 
your abilities ; and though mistakes are entailed to humanity, we 
doubt not the gratitude and justice of your countrymen will 
reward you in some degree adequate to your merit. 

After all, we submit the matter to your Honor's decision, assur- 
ing you that although we shall part with you with regret, yet we 
will demean ourselves as becomes the soldier. 

In behalf of the within mentioned officers, 

THEO. COTTON, President. 
Roxbury, July 25th, 1775." 

John Thomas being an honest man, an ardent 
patriot, and good officer, these petitions prevailed, 
and he again resumed the command of the camp at 
Roxbury. In the battle of Bunker Hill, in June, 
Thomas took no direct part, although his post at 
Roxbury was cannonaded during the whole day of 
the battle, and the original plan of the British was 
to approach his command and take Dorchester 
Heights. From this time to March, 1776, Gen. 
Thomas commanded the most exposed camp of the 
besieging army at Roxbury, and by constant vigi- 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 67 

lance preserved it from insult and injury. Among 
his troops, composed of undisciplined countrymen, 
he was the first to introduce order and regularity 
without severity. 

On Monday, the 4th of March, in the evening, 
Gen. Thomas took possession of Dorchester Heights, 
the incredible labor performed on the following 
night under his care and direction. 

The evacuation of Boston by the British can all 
be found already written on the pages of our coun- 
try's history ; thinking, however, it may be accepta- 
ble to the reader, we will transcribe a letter written 
to his wife at this period : — 

Dear Mrs. Thomas: — 

We have for some time been preparing to take possession of 
Dorchester Point. On last Monday night, about 7 o'clock, I 
marched with about three thousand picked men, beside three 
hundred and sixty ox-teams and some pieces of artillery. Two 
companies of the train of teams were laden with materials for our 
works. About 8 o'clock we ascended the high hills, and by day- 
light got two hills defensible. 

About sunrise, the enemy and others in Boston appeared nu- 
merous on the tops of the houses and on the wharves, viewing us 
with astonishment, for our appearance was unexpected to them. 
The cannonading which had been kept up all night from our 
lines at Lamb's Dam, and from the enemy's lines likewise, at 
Lechmere's Point, now ceased from these quarters, and the enemy 
turned their fire towards us on the hills, but they soon found it 
was to little effect. 

About 10 o'clock we discovered large bodies of troops embark- 
ing in boats with their artillery, which made a formidable appear- 
ance. After some time they were put on board transports, and 



68 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

several of the ships came down near the castle, as we supposed 
with a design to land on our shore. Our people appeared in 
spirits to receive them. We were now in a good posture of de- 
fence, and had two thousand men added to our number. The 
enemy viewed us critically, and remained in that situation that 
night. The next day they came to sail, and returned to town and 
landed their troops. On Friday, about 2 o'clock, P. M., they 
sent a flag of truce, with a paper, a copy of which I enclose. 

I have had but very little sleep or rest this week, being closely 
employed night and day. But now I think we are well secured. 
I write in haste, thinking you may be anxious to hear, as there is 
much firing this way. We lost but two men killed in all this affair. 
How things are in Boston, or what loss they have sustained from 
our shot and shells, at present we are not informed ; but I am 
sensible we distressed them much, from appearances. I have 
wrote yon enclosed by the same hand, and am in haste, 

JNO. THOMAS. 

Dorchester Hills, in a small hut, March 9, 1776. 

Your son John is well and in high spirits. He ran away from 
Oakely privately ; on Tuesday morning got by the sentries and 
came to me on Dorchester Hills, where he has been most of the 
time since. 

The disobedient son John, left on Monday even- 
ing at Roxbury, in charge of his colored servant 
Oakely, was the late Col. Thomas of Kingston, and 
was then but ten years of age, and fearless by the 
side of George Washington and John Thomas did 
he stand in those days of danger. 

Gen. Thomas, while in his proud command at 
Dorchester, was promoted and appointed by Congress 
to a more important station, viz., Major General of 
the troops led into Canada by Montgomery and 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 69 

Arnold. A letter from Congress, written by John 
Adams, to him, under date of March 7th, 1776, 
says : — 

" The delegates from your native province were much embar- 
rassed between a desire to have you promoted and placed in so 
honorable a command on the one hand, and a reluctance of losing 
your services at Roxbury or Cambridge on the other. But all 
agree you ought to be placed where you could do the most service, 
and Canada was thought by some the most important post in 
America." 

After the British army had left his native province, 
Gen. Thomas took his departure for Canada. With 
great exertion, and worn down with the fatigues of 
a long march through an unsettled country, he 
reached the camp on the 1st of May. The army 
then consisted of but two thousand, and the small 
pox was raging in their midst, medicines and neces- 
saries for the sick were wanting, and not more than 
nine hundred men were fit for service. He was 
well aware an attack from the British might be 
expected, and on the 5th he called a council of war, 
who determined they were not in a condition to risk 
an assault, and that the sick should be removed to 
Three Rivers. On the 8th he wrote the intelligence 
to Gen. Washington of his having raised the siege 
of Quebec and commenced his retreat. 

They proceeded to De Chambeau, where another 
council of war was held, when it was agreed to 
retreat to the mouth of the river Sorel. While here, 
anxiously awaiting reinforcements, he was attacked 



70 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

by small pox, of which he deceased, 2 June, 1776. 
In his professional life he had been familiar and 
successful with the disorder, yet had never taken it 
by inoculation or otherwise. 

His perfect collection and soundness of mind, to 
the close of his last sickness, was noticed by all his 
attendants, among which was the late Judge Joshua 
Thomas, of Plymouth, then one of his aids. In 
his person he was six feet high, erect and well pro- 
portioned, and in appearance was commanding. In 
his manners affable and of unaffected sincerity. He 
never lessened his character or martial fame by 
arrogance or ostentation. Granting to all the ap- 
plause due to their merit, he enjoyed that due to 
himself with universal assent. 

The remains of this beloved son of Green Harbor 
and of Liberty are resting on the frontiers of our 
country in an unrecorded grave. 

" He, midst the forests of our land, 
By a dark stream was laid ; 
The Indian knew his place of rest, 
Far in the cedar shade.' 7 

Mrs. Hemans. 

Thomaston, Me., incorporated 1777, was named 
in honor of Gen. John Thomas. 

John Thomas, Esq., of Irvington, N. Y., is grand- 
son of Gen. Thomas, from whom, in pamphlet form, 
the materials for this memoir were received. 

John Thomas, sen., was, it is supposed, from 
Wales. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 71 



SAMPSON. 

Paul Sampson, a descendant of the Mayflower 
Pilgrims, Henry Sampson and Miles Standish re- 
moved from Duxbury to Marshfield about the middle 
of the last century. He had Sylvia, Olive, Caleb, 
Luther, Chandler, b. 1768, Calvin, b. 1770, Proc- 
tor, 1772, and Martin, 1776. 

Luther removed to Readfield, Maine, where he 
founded the Wesleyan Seminary at Kent's Hill. 
This locality was first settled by three young men 
from Marshfield, viz. : Nathaniel Ford, Nathaniel 
Thomas, and Nathaniel Kent ; this last named soon 
deceased, and this far known place was named in 
respect to his memory. 



SOMERS. 

John Somers lived on the farm west from the par- 
sonage. His wife was Elizabeth. They had Eliz- 
abeth, b. 1686 ; John, b. 1688 ; Mary, b. 1691 ; and 
Nathan, 1693. This family removed to Rochester, 
Mass. Dea. Israel Thomas was the succeeding 
owner of this estate, in whose family it remained 
for three successive generations. It is now the 
country residence of John T. Dingley. Esq., of Bos- 
ton. The house standing thereon was erected by 
Dea. Israel Thomas, enlarged by his son, Dea. Nehe- 
miah, a man of sterling worth in the township, who 
rendered invaluable service in the American revolu- 



72 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

tion, as a counsellor, committee man, &c. He was 
a member of the Provincial Congress which met at 
Salem and at Concord, Oct. 1774, to ascertain what 
would be the most wise and prudent measures to be 
taken at this alarming crisis of their affairs. In 1775 
he was a delegate to the Assembly held at Water- 
town, and in 1776 he is again chosen to the Great 
and General Court, held in the meeting-house at that 
place. 

While absent, on one of these occasions, the whigs 
of the vicinity, in the ardor of their patriotism, took 
from his house, contrary to his intention, a quantity 
of tea, which had been seized by them and deposited 
there. This was burnt on a rock, near the meeting- 
house, with much eclat. This was known after- 
wards as Tea Rock. Dea. Thomas passed to his 
reward precisely six months prior to the signing of 
the preliminaries of peace. The following inscrip- 
tion is from his memorial stone : — 

In Memory of Nehemiah Thomas, Esq. He Died 
May 30th, 1782, in y e 70 th year of his Age, who 
Sustained the Office of a Deacon in the First Church 
of Christ in Marshfield, upwards of 30 years. 

Here sleeps his dust beneath these speaking stones, 
In whom each grace, each lovely virtue shone, 
Remembrance weeps, our Zion drops a tear, 
And sacred Friendship standeth Mourning here. 

Dea. Thomas was town clerk from 1751 to his 
decease. He executed most of the legal documents 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 73 

needed in the township during that period. To 
farming he added the occupation of a tanner, and his 
account books show that his business was measurably 
suspended during the revolutionary struggle. 

North of the Dea. Thomas farm is another ancient 
dwelling house, erected by Nathan Thomas, sen., a 
tanner. His wives were Alice Baker, Abiah Snow, 
and Sarah, dau. of " the pious Dea. Foster, of Ply- 
mouth." His son William succeeded to the home- 
stead. His wives were, Mary Hill, of Maiden, and 
Abiah Thomas, of Duxbury. He held a captain's 
commission under Gov. Hutchinson, given at Boston, 
1772, twelfth year of the reign of George the Third, 
probably the last military commission given under 
the Provincial Government to the citizens of Green 
Harbor. He fired the three signal guns from a high 
hill, which were to inform the citizens of the com- 
mencement of hostilities, the morning after the 
battle of Lexington, a messenger having ridden all 
night to bring the intelligence. 

FOORD, FORD. 

Widow Ford, with her children, arrived in the 
Colony, in the Fortune, 1621. William Ford, early 
of Marshfield, was probably her son. His wife, was 
Anna ; the garden of Nathaniel Sprague identifies 
their homelot ; he d. 1676, aged 72; his wife, 1684. 
They had William, Michael, Margaret, and Melli- 
cent. William m. Sarah Dingley, 1658. They had 
7 



74 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

John, b. 1659 ; Mercy, b. 1662 ; and Josiah, b. 1664. 
He d. 1721, aged 88; the first interment in Cedar 
Grove Cemetery. His grave marks the site of the 
deacon's seat which he occupied in an early meeting- 
house ; his widow d. 1727, aged 78. 

Michael, son of William, sen., m. Abigail Snow, 
1667. Had Lydia, b. 1668 ; Hannah, b. 1670 ; Wil- 
liam, b. 1672 ; James, b. 1675 ; Abigail, b. 1677, 
and Patience, b. 1682. The mother d. 1682. He 
m. secondly, Bethiah, dau. of Walter Hatch, 1683 ; 
they had twelve children from that date to 1700. 
Elisha, the youngest, m. Elizabeth Oakman ; their 
son, Elisha, m. Elizabeth Tilden, who were grand- 
parents of the well known commissioner of Plymouth 
County, John Ford, Esq. 



BAKER. 

Samuel Baker, son, probably, of the Rev. Nicholas 
Baker of Hingham, settled near Skirgo. He m. 
Ellen, dau. of Kenelm Winslow, 1656, who d. 1676. 
They had Kenelm, b. 1657 ; Lydia, b. 1659 ; Eliza- 
beth, b. 1661; Mary, b. 1667. Samuel Baker, m., 
secondly, Patience Simmons ; Eleanor, Samuel, and 
Josias. 

Kenelm Baker, jr., m. Sarah, dau. of Dep. Gov. 
Bradford. They had Sarah, b. 1688 ; Alice, b. 1690 
Eleanor, b. 1692 ; Abigail, b. 1693 ; Kenelm, b. 1695 
Bethiah, b. 1699 ; Kezia, b. 1701 ; Samuel, b. 1702 
William and Edward, b. 1705. The two last settled 
in Boston and left families. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 75 



WILLIAMSON. 

In 1621, Master Williamson. Capt. Standish, and 
Edward Winslow, made a journey to make a treaty 
with Massasoit. He is called Master George, mean- 
ing, probably, Master George Williamson. Timothy, 
perhaps his son, a freeman of Plymouth Colony, 
1646-7, settled in Marshfield, 1649. He m. Mary, 
dau. of Arthur Howland, sen. They had Mary, b. 
1654; Timothy, b. 1655, d. 1687; Joanna, b. 1657; 
Experience, Martha, Abigail, George, and Nathan. 
Timothy Williamson, sen., d. in Philip's War, 1676. 
Mary, the widow, m. Robert Stanford, 1679, and d. 
1690. 

Nathan succeeded to the paternal home, and m. 
Mary, dau. of secretary Sprague. George settled in 
Middleboro' ; his son, Caleb, removed to Canterbury, 
Conn. ; his son, George, m. Mary Foster. The late 
Hon. William D. Williamson, historian of Maine, 
was their son. 



HOWLAND. 

Arthur Howland, sen., m. the widow Margaret 
Read. He d. 1675 ; his widow, 1683. They had 
Arthur, Deborah, who m. John Smith, jr., of Ply- 
mouth ; Mary, m. T. Williamson ; Martha, m. John 
Damon ; and Elizabeth, who m. John Low. 

Arthur Howland, jr., was fined £5, in 1660, for 
proposing marriage to a daughter of Gov. Prince, 



76 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

without her parent's consent. He promised to omit 
farther proposals, but it is written on the records of 
the past, that Arthur Howland, jr., and Elizabeth 
Prince, were m. 9 Dec , 1671. They had Ebenezer, 
Thomas, Abraham and Prince. This family em- 
braced Friends' principles. 

FOSTER. 

Thomas Foster, of Weymouth, had Thomas, b. 
1640, a physician at Cambridge ; he d. 1679, aged 39-; 
and John, b. 1642, an ordained deacon of the First 
Church, at Marshfield. He m. Mary, dau. of Mr. 
Chilling worth, and settled on her inheritance on 
South River. He d. 1731, and she having d. 1702 ; 
his second wife, Sarah, d. the same year with him- 
self. Their children were, Elizabeth, b. 1664, m. 
William Carver ; John, b. 1666, married Hannah 
Stetson, he was the senior Dea. Foster of Plymouth ; 
Josiah, b. 1669, m. Sarah Sherman, removed to 
Pembroke ; Mary, b. 1671, m. John Hatch of Scituate ; 
Joseph removed to Sandwich, d. 1750 ; Sarah, d. 
1702 ; Chillingworth removed to Harwich ; James 
b. and d. 1683 ; and Thomas, b. 1686, who inherited 
the homestead. He m. Faith, [Oakman,] widow of 
Benjamin White. They had Thomas, 1735, and 
Deborah, 1736, who m. Anthony Waterman, 1760. 
They both deceased 1758, and their son Thomas 
alienated the homestead to his cousin, Nathan Tho- 
mas, and removed to Middieboro'. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 77 



WALKER. 



John Walker m. Lydia Read, step-daughter of 
Arthur Howland, 1654. They had Lydia, b. 1665 ; 
John, b. 1657, and Isaac ; John Walker, d. 1663. 
The name is yet on the homestead. 

LOW. 

John Low m. Elizabeth Howland. Had Arthur, 
b. 1665, and Hannah, 1670. John Low was killed 
at Rehoboth, in Philip's war, 1676. Arthur Low 
m. Elizabeth Crooker, 1714. They had Hannah, b. 
1717, m. William Winslow, of Middleboro', 1742; 
Elizabeth, b. 1720; and Jeremiah, b. 1735, m. 
Sarah Thomas, 1757. 



CHILLINGSWORTH OR CHILLINGWORTH. 

Thomas Chillingworth was of Lynn, 1637, sub- 
sequently of Sandwich, and permanently settled at 
Marshfield near the time of its incorporation. He 
was quite a prominent man in public matters, but 
physically infirm, and d. 1652, probably in the me- 
ridian of his years. He was a large landholder. He 
had Sarah, who m. S. Sprague ; Mary, m. to Dea. 
John Foster ; Mehetabel, to Justus Eames ; and 
Elizabeth, who d. 1655. Joane, his widow, m. 
Thomas Dogget, 1654, d. 1684. The bible of Mr. 
7 # 



<B MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

Chillingworth is in preservation, printed by Christo- 
pher Barker, 1589. 

SPRAGUE. 

Samuel Sprague a townsman of Marshfield, 1666, 
was son of William Sprague, who came to Salem 
with his brothers, Ralph and Richard, 1628-29. 
These brothers were sons of Edward Sprague of 
Upway, Dorset Co., England, and were the founders, 
with a few others, of Charlestown, Mass., the same 
year they arrived. In 1636 William removed to 
Hingham with his father-in-law, Anthony Eames. 
In 1650 Eames removed to Marshfield, and his 
grandson, Samuel Sprague, followed him. He m. 
about 1665-6, Sarah, dau. of Mr. Thomas Chilling- 
worth, and settled on her paternal inheritance. He 
was the fourth and last secretary of the Colony, from 
1686 to 1692. He deceased, 1710, and his widow 
after 1725. They had eight children, viz. : Samuel, 
who m. Bethiah Thomas, lived in Duxbury. The 
late Hon. Seth Sprague, father of the Hon. Peleg 
Sprague, of Boston, was their grandson. John lived 
in Duxbury, also. Nathan and James remained in 
Marshfield. In 1727-8, James, who inherited the 
homelot of the ancestor, alienated it to Nathan, and 
purchased a part of the Baker estate, near Mt. Skirgo. 
In the deed thereof given by Samuel Baker, the 
second, it is called three-fourths of the homestead, 
that was the estate of his father, Samuel Baker, sen. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 79 

On this estate is now standing a dwelling-house of 
the Pilgrim times. It is owned by an aged and 
venerable matron, Mrs. Nellie Spragne, daughter-in- 
law of James, jr., son of James Sprague the pur- 
chaser. Her father-in-law, with whom she lived 
under this roof some years, was ten years of age 
when he removed with his parents thither, one hundred 
and twenty-seven years since. He ever stated to 
her it was then called a very old house. It conse- 
quently, from comparison of deeds, &c, must be the 
dwelling-house, with orchards, fields, &c, which 
Resolved White exchanged, 1672, with Samuel 
Baker, for his, "situated adjoining over against Skirgo." 
This ancient dwelling has been, in succession, the 
residence of Resolved and Judith [Vassall] White, 
and Samuel and Ellen [Winslow] Baker. 

With these memorials of its age, it is no stretch of 
the fancy to picture to the eye of the mind, the 
Pilgrim mothers, Susanna [White] Winslow, and her 
sister-in-law, Ellen [Newton] Winslow, sitting in 
Mayflower chairs by these capacious firesides, con- 
versing of trans-atlantic times, with the daughter of 
the wealthy Vassall. While gathering around stand 
the grandchildren of these memorable mothers, list- 
ening with astonishment to the tales they are telling 
of the beautiful homes they had left for religious 
freedom beyond the breaking waves of the broad 
Atlantic. 



80 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

HALL. 

Adam Hall, who came to Marshfield early in the 
last century, was of trans-atlantic birth. He m. Sa- 
rah Sherman, 1725, a grandaughter of Peregrine 
White, and settled in the vicinity of his residence. 
Their children were, William, b. 1726 ; Thomas, b. 
1728 ; Adam, b. 1729 ; Joseph, b. 1733 ; Sarah, b. 
1735 ; Mercy, b. 1739 ; and Levi, b. 1744, who re- 
moved to Rhode Island. Sarah, wife of Adam Hall, 
d. 1768, aged 68. 

Adam Hall, jr., m. Kezia, dau. of Samuel and 
Sarah [Rogers] Ford, 1752. They had Adam, b. 
1757 ; Mercy, b. 1759, m. Andrew Keen and Pere- 
grine White; Susanna, b. 1761, d. 1834, unmarried; 
Kezia, b. 1764, m. Proctor Sampson ; Luke, b. 1767; 
Samuel, b. 1770 ; and William, b. 1774. 

Adam Hall, jr., was a mariner, and commanded 
the packet sloop Dolphin, of North River. He d. 
1806, aged 77. 

Luke, son of Adam and Kezia Hall, was a ship- 
master. He m. Anna, dau. of Barnard and Experi- 
ence [Taylor] Tuels, and had Luke, William and 
Samuel, b. 1800, the celebrated shipbuilder of East 
Boston. The following epitaph is copied from a 
monumental stone, erected by him, to perpetuate the 
memory of his parents, at Church Hill Cemetery, 
Marshfield : — 



81 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 

In Memory of 
LUKE HALL, 

Who died on Staten Island, 

June 28, 1815, 

Aet. 48 years. 

MRS. ANNA, WIFE OF 

Luke Hall, 

Died at East Boston, 

July 20, 1848, 

Aet. 88 years. 



STEVENS. 

Edward Stevens, had Edward, William, Elizabeth, 
and Patience, who m. John Phillips, 1710. 

William, son of Edward Stevens, sen., m. Hannah, 
and had Hannah, b. 1692, m. a Mr. Rider ; William, 
b. 1694; Josiah, b. 1695, d. 1709; Lydia, b, 1697, 
m. Ebenezer Cobb, of Kingston, who was 107 years 
of age at his death in 1801 ; John, b. 1699, m. Eleanor 
Jarman ; Abigail, b. 1702 ; Bethiah, b. 1703, m. 
Caleb Oldham; Edward, b. 1706; Elizabeth, b. 
1708-9; and Patience, b. 1712. 

A number of families of this name are yet residing 
on the ancient homestead of the ancestor. 

DOGGET, DOGGETT. 

" Thomas Dogget, in Concord, 1642, at which 
date his wife died. He removed from thence." 

A Thomas Dogget is early in Marshfield, who 
settled on the estate granted, priorly, to Mr. Comfort 



82 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



Starr, near the junction of North and South Rivers, 
now the farm of Capt. Samuel Clapp. He appears 
to have had a family of children when he came to 
Marshfield, viz. : John, Samuel, Sarah, who. m. 
Samuel Sherman, and perhaps others. He married, 
in Marshfield, 1654, Joane, the widow of Mr. Thomas 
Chillingworth, and had Rebekah, b. 1655. Joane, 
the wife. d. 1684: he d. 1692. 

His son, Samuel, m. Mary Rogers, 1682. She 
deceased, 1690, leaving children, Samuel, Mary, and 
Sarah. He m., secondly, 1691, Bathsheba Holmes, 
a grandaughter of the Rev. Samuel Arnold, and had 
Elizabeth, Ebenezer, Bathsheba, John, and Isaac, all 
baptised in the First Church, 27 Sept., 1702 ; and 
Lodiah, Persis, Seth, and Abigail, subsequently. 
The name has long been extinct at Green Harbor. 

KEENE, KEIN, KEEN. 

Martha Keene, aged 60 years, was a passenger, 
1638, in the good ship Confidence, of London, John 
Jobson, master, to New England. She was accom- 
panied by John Keene, aged 17 ; Eliza, Martha, 
Josias, and Sarah Keene, probably her children. 

Josias settled near Thomas Doggett, in Marshfield ; 
m. Hannah, dau. of John Dingley, sen. They had, 
John, b. 1661 ; Josiah, Matthew, Hannah, and per- 
haps others. Hannah m. Isaac Oldham, 1695. 

Josias Keene and his wife Lydia had nine children 
baptised in the First Church, Marshfield, by Mr. 
Gardner, 24 Oct., 1704. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 83 

SHEARMAN, SHERMAN. 

William Sherman had a garden place, at Duxbury, 
1637, and lands towards Green Harbor, 1640. He 
early settled on the north side of the highlands, called 
on early records White's Hill, near Peregrine White's. 
He had John, b. 1646, William, and perhaps others. 

William Sherman, jr., m. Desire Dotey, 1667. 
They had, Hannah, b. 1668 ; Elizabeth, b. 1670, d. 
1675; William, b. 1672 j Patience, b. 1674; and 
Experience, b. 1678. 

John, son of the senior William Sherman, was m. 
at Boston, to Jane Hatch, dau. of Walter Hatch, of 
Scituate, 1677. 

PHILLIPS. 

John Phillips, Duxbury, 1640. Came early to 
Marshfield and settled on a tract of land lying near 
the united outlet of North and South Rivers. He 
had, by his first wife, William, John, and Jeremiah. 
He m., secondly, Grace, widow of William Hollo- 
way, 1654. They had, Joseph, b. 1655, killed at 
the Rehoboth fight, 1676 ; and Benjamin, 1658. 

John, the second son of John, sen., was killed by 
lightning, at the house of Mr. Bulkely, 1654. His 
second wife, Grace, and his third son, Jeremiah, were 
killed, with their neighbor and guest, William Shurt- 
leff, 23 June, 1666, and all interred on the 24th. 

In 1667, Mr. Phillips m. Faith Dotey, widow of 
the Mayflower Pilgrim, Edward. She deceased, 1667. 



84 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

He survived until 1691, having numbered nearly 90 
years. A man of many sorrows. 

Mrs. Grace Phillips had two daughters by her first 
husband, William Holloway, Hannah and Grace, 
who m. Josiah Read, 1666. He was one of the 
thirty-five purchasers of Norwich, Conn. 

SHETLE, SHIRTLEY, SHURTLEFF. 

1634. William Shetle, an apprentice to Thomas 
Clark, carpenter, of Plymouth. Circumstances lead 
to the conclusion that he was from Yorkshire, Eng. 
William Shirtley removed to Marshfield about 1660. 
He resided near John Phillips, and is named with 
the freemen of Marshfield, 1664. He m. Elizabeth, 
dau. of Thomas and Ann Lettice, of Plymouth, 
1655, early comers to New England. Mr. ShurtlerFs 
dwelling-house was destroyed by fire early in the 
year 1666. He, with his family, found an asylum 
at the dwelling-house of Mr. John Phillips after this 
calamity. He was killed by lightning, while so- 
journing there r June 23d, 1666. 

The circumstances connected with this melan- 
choly occurrence are described in a letter written by 
the Rev. Samuel Arnold, to the Rev. Increase Mather, 
Boston. 

" Suffering from a dreadful dearth, the neighboring 
congregations, on the 20th of June, observed a day 
of Fasting and Prayer, as they were wont on such 
occasions. On the 23d they were visited by a terrific 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 85 

thunder storm ; during which the electric fluid struck 
the house of Mr. Phillips, killing his wife and son, 
with his neighbor, Mr. Shurtleff. Mr. Shurtleff left 
two sons, William and Thomas, one of which was 
in his arms, at this sad period, and remained unhurt. 
A third, called Abiel, signifying, in Hebrew, "God 
is my Father," was born shortly after his father's 
decease. William Shurtleff is, probably, ancestor of 
all bearing the name in New England. The distin- 
guished antiquary, Nathaniel B. Shurtleff, M. D., of 
Boston, is a descendant of William Shurtleff and his 
son Abiel, to whose research I am indebted for a 
part of this sketch. 



LITTLE. 

Thomas Little was in Plymouth after 1630, where 
he m., 1633, Ann, one of the daus. of the Pilgrim 
Richard Warren. He removed to Marshfield about 
1650, settled in the easterly part of the township, a 
locality since known as Littletown, in the surround- 
ing region. 

He had Thomas, killed by the Indians at the 
Rehoboth fight, 1676; Samuel, who m. Sarah Grey; 
Ephraim, who m. Mary Sturtevant, 1672; Isaac; 
Hannah, who m. Stephen Tilden; Mercy, who m. 
John Sawyer, 1666; Ruth, and Patience. 

Thomas Little was probably a lawyer. He de- 
ceased, 1671. Ephraim and Mary (Sturtevant) Little 
had Ephraim, b. 1673, H. C. 1695, ordained as pas- 
8 



86 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

tor of the Plymouth Church, 1699, and deceased, 
1723, without children; Ruth, b. 1675, m. an Avery; 
David, b. 1681, settled as a lawyer in Scituate; his 
son Ephraim, H. C. 1728, was settled in the ministry 
at Colchester, Conn.; John, b. 1683; Ann, who m. 
Thomas Grey, and Mary, who m. an Otis. 

Lieut. Isaac Little, son of the ancestor, purchased 
the Biddle estate, (now owned by Mr. Waterman 
Thomas,) on Marshfield Neck. He and his wife 
Bethiah had Thomas, b. 1676, H. C. 1695, lawyer 
and physician at Plymouth ; Isaac, b. 1677, removed 
to Pembroke; Charles, b. 1685; Nathaniel, b. 1690, 
died 1716; William, b. 1692, H. C. 1710. Lieut. 
Little deceased, 1712. 

John Little, Esq., son of Ephraim, m. Constant 
Fobes of Little Compton, was a valuable and highly 
useful citizen. They had eleven children, b. from 
1708 to 1724. Their son Fobes, H. C. 1724, was a 
physician at Little Compton. John, another son, 
removed to Windham, and William to Lebanon, 
Conn. Thomas, Ephraim and Lemuel remained on 
the ancestral estate, where their descendants yet 
reside. The late Capt. George Little and his brother 
Capt. Luther Little, both of the U. S. naval service, 
were grandsons of John Little, Esq. Edward P. 
Little, late a representative to Congress, is a son of 
the late Capt. George Little. 



FAMILY SKETCHES. 87 

JOHN JONES. 

John Jones was a grandson of Thomas Little, sen. 
He m. Eleanor, dau. of Nathaniel and Faith Wins- 
low, 1697. Their children were, Patience, who m. 
William Stevens; John, b. 1701, m. Grace Cushing ; 
Faith, b. 1704, d. early; Ebenezer, b. 1706, m. Jane 
King; Anna, b. 1708, m. Bezaleel Palmer; Eleanor, 
b. 1710; Nathaniel, b. 1713, and Joseph, b. 1715. 

CHAPMAN. 

Ralph Chapman, aged 20, ship carpenter, from 
South wark, England, was a passenger in the ship 
Elizabeth of London, 1635. He m. Lydia Wills, 
1642, the earliest marriage extant on the records of 
Marshfield. They had Mary, b. 1643, m. William 
Troop of Barnstable; Sarah, b. 1645, m. William 
Norcutt of Marshfield; Isaac, b. 1647, m. Rebecca 
Leonard, and lived at Barnstable, and R,alph. 

Ralph Chapman, sen., lived at the Ferry, which 
he kept, but was excused from the duty, 1645, ex- 
cept on special occasions. His family became 
Friends. His son Ralph removed to Newport, R. I., 
and his son John returned to the Old Colony. He 
m., in Pembroke, Abigail Booth, 1630; and the 
births of four sons and three daus. are found re- 
corded on the books of the Friend's Society. The 
daus. m. John, Wing, and Joseph Rogers, of the 
family who early settled at Rogers' Hill, North 
River. 



88 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

"John Chapman d. 3d. 1 m. 1811, and from the 
most accurate accounts to be had, was 104 years, 
2 months and some days old." — Friend Records. 



WEBSTER. 

The New England ancestor of the late Hon. 
Daniel Webster was, it is believed, John Webster, 
who came from Ipswich, Co. Suffolk, Eng., and 
settled in Ipswich, N. E. ; freeman, 1635. His son 
Thomas settled in Hampton, N. H. ; m., 2 Nov., 
1657, Sarah Brewer; d. 5 Jan., 1715, aged 83. 
Their son Ebenezer, b. 1 Aug., 1667; served in the 
Indian wars; settled in Kingston, 1700; m. Hannah 
Judkins, 1709. Their son Ebenezer m., 20 July, 

1738, Susanna Bachelder; whose son Ebenezer, b. 

1739, settled in Salisbury, and was distinguished in 
the old French and Revolutionary war. His second 
wife was Abigail Eastman. Their son, the late 
Hon. Daniel Webster, was b. 18 Jan., 1782; d., at 
his residence in Marshfield, Mass., 22 minutes before 
3 o'clock, Sabbath morning, Oct. 24th, 1852. He 
m., 10 June, 1808, Grace, dau. of the Rev. Elijah 
Fletcher of Hopkinton, who deceased 1828. His 
second wife was Caroline, dau. of Herman Le Roy 
of New York, who survives him. 

Mr. Webster made his first purchase in Marshfield, 
about 1830, of the late Capt. John Thomas, which 
consisted of the present Webster mansion, since 
enlarged and improved, and that portion of the 




w 



THE MARSHFIELD GRAVES. 89 

landed estate of his father, Nathaniel Ray Thomas, 
the royalist, which was reserved unconfiscated, at 
the close of the Revolutionary war, as a dower for 
the widow. This mansion house, in 1774-5, was 
the quarters of a detachment of British troops, called 
the Queen's Guards, commanded by Capt. Balfour, 
which were unnecessarily stationed here by Gen. 
Gage, at the request of the royalists of the vicinity. 
Of these troops, called the flower of the British 
army, five only were left with Capt. Balfour at the 
close of the memorable battle of Bunker Hill. 

Mr. Webster added subsequently to his first pur- 
chase, acres unto acres, until his estate amounted to 
fifteen hundred or more, including therein that por- 
tion of Careswell on which the present old Winslow 
mansion is now standing. 



THE MARSHFIELD GRAVES 

BY FRANCES MANWARING CAULKINS. 

Why meet we here on this memorial hill ? 

Where is the glory that here walks abroad ? 
What gives to yonder ocean its deep thrill, — 

To* earth this silent worship of its Lord ? 

By sacred feet this hill-top has been prest ; 

The angels keep these sepulchres in view. 
Here pilgrims worshipped and here pilgrims rest, 

Sons of the Old World, fathers of the New. 
8* 



90 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

Here sleeps the bride, — first of these deserts drear,* 
Ye daughters o'er the turf your garlands wave ! 

And White,f New England's first-born son, lies here, 
Move slow, ye bands, around the patriarch's grave ! 

Here rest the Winslows, — names of old renown ; 

Yon hawthorn bower the grave of Cushman shows : 
And Webster, too, with tears we laid him down, — 

Our Webster, 'mid his loved ones to repose. 

These hills, these plains, are monumental ground ; 

Yonder lies Pilgrim Rock and Plymouth Bay ! 
The Carvers', Bournes', and Dingleys' dwelt around ; 

Sprague, Bulkley, Tompson, trod the shining way. 

Descend, O dart of heaven, — Muriel's spear ! 

Unseal the doors of these grass-covered rooms, 
And show the sons of pilgrims gathering here 

The lights yet burning in their fathers' tombs : 

These Mayflower lights, whose quickening rosy gleams, 
So faint, at first, but growing like the morn, 

Wide round the world now send their kindling beams 
Of truth and freedom ushering in the dawn. 

Take counsel of the fathers : this wild shore, 
Their toil transfused into a flowery sod ; 

For little as for much, they rendered more, — 
Pains-taking people, — looking up to God. 



■* Susanna Winslow. The first marriage, in New England was that of 
Edward Winslow to Susanna, widow of William White. 

t Peregrine White, born at Plymouth, in November, 1620 ; died at Marsh- 
field, July 22, 1704. 



THE MARSHFIELD GRAVES. 91 

Children of faith, — they walked by future light ; 

The glory not yet come, illumed their way ; 
In truth's great conflict champions for the right, — 

Tender yet stern they wrestled out their way. 

Free worship and free thought, they claimed and found ; 

Our larger golden freedom gathers rust ; 
Too oft our banner stoops to kiss the ground ; 

We have more sunlight, but 'tis flecked with dust. 

Away with liberty that leaves man free, 

Unlicensed on his fellow man to prey ! 
When law, truth, virtue, are trod down by thee, 

O faithless freedom ! we disown thy sway. 

Call up the tenants of these tombs :— They rise, — 
They speak not, but they fill the air with peace ; 

Deep counsels dwelling in their earnest eyes, — 
They seem to say — Cease, warring factions, cease ! 

Land of our love ! Still may thy path ascend ;— 

Fail not ;— fulfil the charter of thy birth ; 
Freedom's great champion and Religion's friend ! 

Behold thy title, flowing round the earth. 

Ye sons, think deep ;— be strong in heart and hand ; 

Remember God, who with his silver key, 
Unlocked the western gates, and gave this land, 

To freedom's sons and all whom truth makes free. 



Fast rush the future ages into light, — 

Come, halcyon peace, on that broad ocean sail ! 

Long may the lamps in pilgrim tombs burn bright ; 
Forever pilgrim principles prevail. 



92 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

BURYING HILL. 

INSCRIPTIONS AND MEMORIALS OF INTERMENTS. 

" They should not sleep forever 

Unhonored in their graves, 
Who braved for us the battle shower, 

And walked the stormy waves. 
Their dust is calling- from the ground, 

With strong and steady cry; 
For unlettered are their spots of rest, 

And their names are passing by." 

We have now introduced you, in our "rustic" 
way, to homelots and households of your Pilgrim 
ancestors, and are ready to retrace our mental wan- 
derings with you to the " waste place of their 
sepulchres." A little north of the present enclosure 
stood the thatched-roofed temple, in which they 
worshipped the Protecting Power which bore them 
safely over the white-capped waves of yonder ocean. 
And 

" Here 'twas their will to sleep beneath the sod, 
Which, when alive, their feet so often trod, — 
To bend the grateful knee, and tune the lays 
Of sweet devotion to their Maker's praise." 

Parris. 

Near the centre of the hill is the Winslow tomb, 
supposed to have been constructed by Isaac Wins- 
low, son of Gov. Josiah, whose remains were ex- 
humed and deposited therein. There is no record 
extant of all who have been laid therein; they 
include the following, unnamed on the tombstone, 
viz. : — Sarah, wife of Isaac Winslow, Esq. ; her dau. 
Anna; Mary, wife of Gen. Winslow, and a Mrs. 



INSCRIPTIONS ON BURYING HILL. 93 

Oliver; Capt. James Gooch and his wife Mary, of 
Boston; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Winslow; Capt. 
Thomas Dingley and wife. 

In March, 1692, the ship Columbia, Capt. Chauncy, 
of Portsmouth, was stranded on this coast, and nearly 
all on board perished, among which were two young 
gentlemen of the name of Hildreth, with a large 
property on board, from Birmingham, Eng. Their 
remains were entombed here. A silver cup, with 
this inscription, was presented to Dr. Winslow, by 
their friends : — 

From 

Richard Hildreth, 

of Birmingham, Great Britain, 

To Dr. Isaac Winslow. 

A Token of Gratitude. 



WINSLOW TOMB STONE. 

The Hon ble JOSIAH WINSLOW GoiF of New Plymouth 
Dyed December y e 18* 1680 jEtatis 52. 



PENELOPE ye widdow of Gou r Winslow dyed December 
y e 9, 1703, .Etatis 73. 

The Hon bIe ISAAC WINSLOW, Esq', December ye 14 1708 
JEtatis 67. 



HON JOHN WINSLOW Esq' 
died April 17 1774, AET 72. 

ISAAC WINSLOW M. D. 
died Oct r 24 1819 aged 80. 



94 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



JOHN WINSLOW Esq' 
died at Natchez August 24 1852 aged 48. 



PELHAM WINSLOW, 
died August 19 1&13 aged 23. 



Here Lyes Buried 

the Body of 

Capt NATHANIEL 

WINSLOW who 

Dec d Decem ber the 

1" 1719 in the 81»t 

year of his Age. 



HERE LYES Y E 

BODY OF M R 

NATHANIEL WINS 

LOW WHO DYED 

MAY Y E 13 th 

1736. 



Here lyes Buried y e 

Body of M rs Faith 

Winslow wife to Capt 

Nathaniel Winslow 

Who Dec d Novem br 9 th 

Anno Dom in 1729 in y« 

85 th Year of her Age. 



HERE LYES Y E BODY OF 

LYDIA WINSLOW 

WIFE TO NATHANIEL 

WINSLOW AGED 44 

YEARS DIED APRIL 

1716. 



HERE LYES BURIED THE BODY 
OF NATH L WINSLOW SON OF 

M E KENELM & M RS ABIGAIL 

WINSLOW He was drowned in 

North River MAY Y E 24 th 1734 

AGED 25 YEARS 11 MO 8 



Here lies Buried 

the Body of 

KENELM WINSLOW Esq 

of MARSHFIELD 

who departed this Life 

June 10* 1757 

Aged 82 Years. 



Here Lyes Buried y e 

Body of M rs Abigail 

Winslow wife to M r 

KENELM WINSLOW 

who Dec d Aug st 15 th 
Anno Dom* 1729 Aged 47 
Years 7 Months & 15 Days. 



INSCRIPTIONS ON BURYING HILL. 



95 



In Memory of 

Kenelm Winslow Esq 

who Died Aug Bt 

y e 13 th 1780 

In y e 63 rd year. 

of his Age. 



Here lies interred 

Abigail Winslow — 

Daughter of the Hon ble 

Silvanus Bourne Esq 

of Barnstable 

and the wife of 

Kenelm Winslow Esq 

Born 21 June 1729 

Died at Marshfield 21 Dec 1761 

Aged 32 years and 6 months 



HERE LYES 

INTERRED Y E 

BODY OF NATHAN 1 * 

WINSLOW SON OF 

M R JOHN WINSLOW 

WHO DYED MARCH Y E 

26 th 1723 AGED 10. 



Eleanor Winslow 

Daugh tr of 

M r Kenelm & Mrs Abigail 

Winslow Dec d April y e 

12 1719 Aged 
9 Months & 23 Days 



HERE LYES BURIED 

THE BODY OF 

JOHN WINSLOW 

SON OF M R JOHN 

WINSLOW WHO DYED 

AUGUST Y E 8 th 1724 

AGED 18 YEARS. 



HERE LYES 

INTERRED Y E BODY 

M R JOSEPH TAYLOR 

WHO DYED SEPTE 

MBER 13 th 1727 

AGED 67 YEARS 



96 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



HERE LYES WHAT REMAINS 

OF WILLIAM THOMAS ESQ 

ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF 

NEW PLYMOUTH COLONY 

WHO DEC D IN Y E MONTH 

OF AUGUST 1651 ABOUT 

yE 78 th YEAR OF 

HIS AGE 



HERE LYES THE 

REMAINS OF 

NATHANIEL THOMAS 

GENT WHO DEC D 

Y E 13 th DAY OF FEBRUARY 

1674 ABOUT Y E 68 th YEAR 

OF HIS AGE 



HERE LYES INTERRED 

Y E BODY OF WILLIAM 

THOMAS GENT M 

WHO DEC D MARCH Y E 

30 th 1718 

IN Y E 80 th YEAR 

OF HIS AGE 



HERE LYES INTERRED 

Y E BODY OF Y E 

HONORABLE NATHANIEL 

THOMAS ESQ R WHO 

DEC D OCT Y E 22 1718 

IN Y E 75 th YEAR 

OF HIS AGE. 



DEBORAH 

Y E WIFE OF 

NATHANIEL THOMAS 

ESQ DEC D JUNE Y E 17 TH 

1696 

IN Y E 53 rd YEAR 

OF HER AGE 



HERE LYES Y E BODY 

OF MRS ELIZ H THOMAS, 

WIFE OF 

NATHANIEL THOMAS 

FORMERLY WIFE TO 

CAP T WIL M CONDY DEC D 

1713 IN Y E 61 st 

YEAR OF HER AGE. 



INSCRIPTIONS ON BURYING HILL. 



97 



HERE LYES BURIED 

Y E BODY OF MR 3 

MARY THOMAS 

WIFE TO M R 

NATHANIEL THOMAS 

ESQ R WHO DEC D 

OCT Y E 7™ 1727 

IN Y E 54 th YEAR OF 

HER AGE 



HERE LYES Y E BODY OF 

M R SAMUEL THOMAS 

AGED 65 YEARS 

DECEASED SEPTEMBER 

1720 



HERE LYES Y E BODY 
OF ALICE THOMAS 
WIFE OF NATHAN 
THOMAS AGED 25 

YEARS DYED JUNE 
Y E 14 1715 



Here lyes y e Body of 

M RS LYDIA THOMAS, 

Wife to M' JOHN 

THOMAS who Died 

Jan r > y e 17 ,h 1750 

Aged 60 Years 

and 11 Months 

9 



HERE LYES INTER'D 

THE BODY OF MR S 

MARY THOMAS 

WIFE TO JOHN 

THOMAS ESQ 

DIED MAY Y K 3 rd 

17:37 IN THE 

35 th YEAR OF HER 

AGE 



HERE LYES BURIED 

Y E BODY OF 
M RS MARCY THOMAS 

Y E WIDOW OF 

M R SAMUEL THOMAS 

WHO DEC D SEPT 1741 

AGED 79 YEARS 



HERE LYES Y E BODY 

OF ABIAH THOMAS, 

WIFE OF NATHAN 

THOMAS AGED 26 

YEARS DEC D FEB RY 

1 st 1717-18 



Here lyes Buried 

the Body of 

M r JOHN THOMAS, 

who departed this Life 

April 14 th 1770 

Ajred 86 Years & 5 Months. 



98 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



Memento Mori. 

In Memory of 

Col Anthony Thomas 

who Died July y e 14 th 

1781 Aged 62 Years 

3 Months & 20 Days 



John Thomas 
Son of M r Anthony 

& M rs Abigail 

Thomas Dec d Nov r 

11* 1748 Aged 5 

Months & 5 Days 



Here lyes y 9 Body of 

Kezia Thomas Daug tr 

of M^ John & M rs 

Lydia Thomas who 

Died Decem br 11 th 1751 

Aged 21 Years 1 

Month & 4 Days. 



ANN THOMAS 
DAU TO JOHN AND 

LYDIA THOMAS, 

DEC D THE 7 th DEC 

1723 IN Y E 6 th YEAR 

OF HER AGE. 



In Memory of 

Capt JOHN THOMAS 

Born August 30 th 1764 

Died July 27 1837 

" For we know that if our earthly house of this 
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building 
of God, an house not made with hands, eternal 
in the heavens."— 2nd Cor. V, 1. 



Erected 

to the memory of 

MRS LUCY THOMAS, 

wife of 

JOHN THOMAS 

who died March, 13, 1849 

Aged 78 years 

My Mother 



Sacred to the Memory 

Mrs Lucy wife of 

Capt John Thomas she 

died August 30 th 1804 

Aged 40 Years 11 Months 

and 8 days 

With love divine and pure delight 

On faith's celestial wing 
With sweet repose she took her flight 

For death had lost its sting. 



INSCRIPTIONS ON BURYING HILL. 99 

Beneath this 

rest the ashes of 

NATHANIEL RAY THOMAS 

Son of John and Lucy Thomas, 

Born at Marshfield June 9 1812, 

Died at Washing-ton D. C 

March, 17, 1840 

aged 27 years 

"And ye now therefore have sorrow} but 
I will see you again." 



HERE LYES Y E ASHES 

OF Y E REVEREND LEARNED 

& PIOUS M E EDWARD TOMPSON 

PASTOR OF Y E CHURCH OF 

MARSHFIELD WHO SUDDENLY 

DEPARTED THIS LIFE MARCH 

Y E 16 Tn 1705 

ANNO AETATIS SUEE 40 

HERE IN A TYRANT'S HAND DOES CAPTIVE LYE 

A RARE SYNOPSIS OF DIVINITY, 

OLD PATRIARCHS, PROPHETS, GOSPEL BISHOPS MEET, 

UNDER DEEP SILENCE IN THEIR WINDING SHEET ; 

HERE REST AWHILE IN HOPES AND FULL INTENT, 

WHEN THEIR KING CALLS, TO MEET IN PARLIAMENT. 



HERE LYES INTERRED 

THE BODY OF 

MRS ELIZABETH PELHAM 

WHO DEC D APRIL 

Y E 1 st 1706 

IN Y E 84 th YEAR 

OF HER AGE 



100 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



HERE LYES Y E 
BODY OF DEACON 

JOHN FOSTER 
WHO DYED JUNE 

Y E 13 th 1732 
AGED 91 YEARS 



HERE LYES Y E 

BODY OF M RS 

SARAH FOSTER 

WIFE TO DEACON 

JOHN FOSTER 

WHO DYED MAY Y E 

26 th 1731 AGED 85 YEARS 



HERE LYES 

Y E BODY OF 

M RS DEBORAH FOSTER 

WHO DYED NOVEMBER 

Y E 4 th 1732 IN Y E 

42 nd YEAR OF HER AGE 



HERE LYES BURIED 

Y E BODY OF ISAAC 

LITTLE ESQ R AGED 

ABOUT 53 YEARS 

DIED NOVEMBER 

Y E 24 1699 



HERE LYES Y E BODY 

OF MRS BETHIAH LITTLE 

WIFE TO ASQUIR ISAAC 

LITTLE WHO DYED SEP 

TEMBER 23 rd 1718 

AGED — YEARS 



MARCY LITTLE 

THE DAUGHTER 

OF CA PT AS QUIR ISAAC 

LITTLE WHO 

DYED JULY 

1724 

AGED 9 YEARS 



INSCRIPTIONS ON BURYING HILL. 101 



Thomas Bourn 

Son of Thomas & Deborah 

Bourn Dec d Sept 14 1723 

aged 7 Years 3 Mo & 3 Days 



Ebenezer Bourn 

Son of Thomas & Deborah 

Bourn Dec d Sept 20 1723 

aged 3 Years 5 Mo & 16 Days 



Deborah Bourn 

Daug tr of Thomas & Deborah 

Bourn Dec d Octo br 2 nd 1723 

Aged 1 Year 9 mo & 

15 Days 



HERE LYES Y E BODY 

OF M R JOSEPH 

WATERMAN AGED 

62 YEARS DYED 

JANUARY THE 

1 st 1711 



HERE LYES BURIED 

Y E BODY OF M RS SARAH 

WATERMAN WIDOW 

OF M B JOSEPH WATERMAN 

WHO DEC D SEP T Y E 11 th 1741 

AGED 90 YEARS & 

3 MONTHS. 



HERE LYES Y E BODY 

JOSEPH WATERMAN 

JUN R DIED DEC R 

THE 23 rd 1715 
IN THE 39 YEAR 
OF HIS AGE. 
9* 



102 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

HERE LYES Y E BODY 

OF M R ANTHONY WATERMAN 

WHO DYED APRIL Y E 

1 st 1715 

IN Y E 31 st YEAR 

OF HIS AGE 



JOSEPH SON 

OF JOSEPH AND 

SUSANNA WATERMAN 

DIED MARCH 28 

1715 IN Y E 3 YEAR 

OF HIS AGE. 



ERECTED, 

in the memory of 

THOMAS DINGLEY, 

born May 22, 1761, 

died Feb 21 1827. 

and his wife 

RUTH S WINSLOW 

born Dec 17 1771 

died Oct 20 1846. 



This Stone is Erected 

in Memory of 

Deac n Thomas Dingley 

who departed this life, 

Sept 15 1806 

Aged 74 Years 

& 11 months. 

He was Deacon of the first Church 
in Marshfield 26 years to the 
great satisfaction of the Church. 



INSCRIPTIONS ON RURYING HILL. 



103 



This Stone is Erected 

in Memory of 

M r John Dingley 

Son of Dea Thomas Dingley 

& Mrs Anna his wife 

who departed this life 

Aug 10 1806 

Aged 41 years 



HERE LYES Y E 

BODY OF 

JOHN ROUSE SEN 

AGED 74 YEARS 

DIED OCT Y E 

3 rd 1717 



HERE LYES Y B 

BODY OF 

JOHN ROUSE 

AGED 26 YEARS 

DIED MAY Y E 

26 th 1704 



IN MEMORY OF 
M RS MARY BOURN 

WIFE TO MR 

JEDEDIAH BOURN 

WHO DECEASED 

JUNE Y E 28 th 

IN Y E 44 TH YEAR 

OF HER AGE. 



Here lies buried 

Mr Jedediah Bourn 

who Dec J Oct r 

ye 18'" 1765 

In y e 74 th Year 

of his ao-e 



In Memory of 
M rs Lucy Delano 

wife of 

Mr Joseph Delano 

who died Aug sl 24 

1789 In the 53 rd year 

of her Age. 



In Memory of 

Capt Rouse Bourne 

who Dec d June 

y e 29 th 1768 In 

29 th year of 

his age 



In Memory of 

Nathaniel son 

of Dea Rouse & 

Mrs Hannah Bourn 

he died Sept 17 

1810 aged 3 Months 

& 14 Days. 



104 



MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 



In memory of 

Miss Lucy Bourn 

who died 

December 14 th 1788 

Aged 19 years 
11 months & 12 days 



In Memory of 
Mr DANIEL WRIGHT 

who died May 6 1829 
AET 76 yrs. 

Mrs SARAH wife of 

Mr DANIEL WRIGHT. 

died March 16 1822 

AET 65 yrs 



Here Lyes Buried 

the Body of M r 

WINTER HEWET 

Who Deceased March 

the 3 rd 1717-18 in y e 
39 lh Year of His Age. 



Here Lyes Buried 

the Body of M r 

SOLOMON HEWET 

Aged 45 Years & 10 Days 

who Deceased December 

the 5 th 1717. 



MARY. S. 

wife of 

Thomas Hewett 

died May 4 1838 

aged 20 Y'rs 

5 mo's & 21 ds 



MARY S. 

died Jan. 14, 1843 

AE 2 y'rs 6 mo's & 21 d's 



ELLA J 

died Aug. 6, 1845 

AE 6 mo's & 5 d's 



INSCRIPTIONS ON BURYING HILL. 



105 



Emma 

died Sept. 10, 1848 

AE. 4 mo's & 5 d's 

Children of 

THOMAS & CRISSA 

HEVVETT. 



In memory of 
Capt JOSEPH KENT 

He Died Jan r ? 1^ 

1801 Aged 83 Years 

& 10 Days 



Thomas Kent 

son of 

M r Nathaniel Kent 

& Mrs Abigail his wife 

died Dec br 2 nd 1792 

Aged 4 Years 

4 months & 

26 days 



In Memory of 
Mr s Lydia widow of 

Capt Joseph Kent 

who died April 9 th 

1810 Aged 89 years 

1 Month 2 days 



In Memory of 
Nathaniel son of 

Cap 1 Nathaniel 

& Mrs Abigail 

Kent he died 

Dec r 13 1806 

Aged 15 days. 



AMANDA GEORGE 

Daughter of 

Henry L & Ann L 

Delano died 

Oct 15 1851 

AE 6 yrs and 6 mos 



In Memory of 

M r JOHN MOOREHEAD 

who died 

June 13, 1836 

aged 76 



John Moorehead 

born Oct 8 1821 

died Dec. 27 1847 

Here the weary are at rest 



106 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

ARTHUR MOOREHEAD 

died March 14 1840 

M 10 mo 8 & 24 days 

Not lost but gone before. 



Mary Winslow 

widow of 

Seth Winslow 

died March 23 1827 

aged 49 years 



ROBERT CUSHMAN'S TOMB. 

Robert Cushman born February 11, 1758, 
Died September 11, 1837. 



Persis (Phillips) Cushman wife of R. Cushman 
Died October 25, 1819, aged 59. 



Betsey (Gray) wife of Joseph P. Cushman 
Died July 26, 1826, aged 41 



Elizabeth Gray Cushman died 1825 
aged 1 year 8 months. 



ANDREW BRADFORD 

H. C. 1771 quarter master in the Army of the 

Revolution, d. in Duxbury 1 Jan 1836 aged 90. 



Mrs. Mary (Turner) Bradford wife of Andrew Bradford 
died June 10 1825, aged 73. 



INSCRIPTIONS ON BURYING HILL. 10< 

DANIEL WEBSTER 

Bora January 18 1782 

Died October 24 1852 

" Lord, I believe, help thou 
mine unbelief." 

Philosophical 
argument, especially 
that drawn from the vastness of 
the Universe, in comparison with the 
apparent insignificance of this globe has some- 
times shaken my reason for the faith which is in me ; 
but my heart has always assured and reassured me that the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ must be a Divine Reality. The 
Sermon on the Mount cannot be a mere human 
production. This belief enters into the 
very depth of my conscience. 
The whole history of man 
proves it. 



GRACE FLETCHER 

wife of Daniel Webster 
Born, January 16, 1781 
Died January 21, 1828 

" Blessed are the pure in heart, 
for they shall see God. 7 '" 



JULIA WEBSTER 

wife of 

Samuel Appleton Appleton 

Born January 16 1818 

Died April 28 1848 

Let me go, for the day breaketh. 



MARY CONSTANCE APPLETON 

Born Feb. 7, 1848 

Died March 15, 1849. 



108 MEMORIALS OF MARSHFIELD. 

MAJOR EDWARD WEBSTER, 

Born July 20 1820, 

Died at San Angel, in Mexico, 

In the military service 

of his country 

Jan. 23, 1848. 

A dearly beloved son and brother 



CHARLES 

Son of Daniel and 

Grace Fletcher Webster 

Born Dec. 31, 1821, 

Died Dec. 19, 1824. 



GRACE FLETCHER 

Daughter of 

FLETCHER and 

CAROLINE S WEBSTER 

Born at Detroit 

Aug. 29, 1837 

Died at Boston 

Feb. 7, 1844. 



HARRIETTE PAIGE 

daughter of 

Fletcher and 

Caroline S. Webster, 

Born Sept 6 1843. 
Died March 2 1845. 



I 









LF.Je?9 



